James and Lily: A Match made in Hogwarts
by BendItLikeBeckham
Summary: Completed! 7th year....james loves lily but lily hates him. you know how it goes......anyway as time passes, ppl change. will it be enough to change Lily's heart? sucky summary, decent story. Thanks for reading.
1. Default Chapter

Lily and James Story

It was a very hot night on July 31st and James Potter was having a nightmare.

 _He was in a_ _very dark room under his invisibility cloak. Across the room from him stood a cowering girl with her hands over her face.  Men wearing masks surrounded her and she was screaming, "No! Please! Don't hurt me! Please! HELP ME!" James desperately wanted to go to her and help but found himself rooted to the floor. The girl continued to scream until one of the men wearing masks said to her, "You might as well give up, Mudblood! No one can hear you scream!" But the girl continued to whimper until another man said, "Do it." The girls piercing scream sent shivers down James's spine. The man moved to the side and James caught a glimpse of the girl's face. It was Lily Evans…_

James awoke with a start and sprang up quickly in his bed. "It was just a dream." He thought, breathing heavily. "There's no way that would happen.", he muttered to himself. Lily's pretty face clouded his mind and he smiled and rumpled his messy, jet black hair. He rolled over and drifted back into an uneasy, restless sleep. 

He woke up at nine o'clock the next morning. He changed into his summer robes and went downstairs to join his mother and father at the breakfast table. His mother, Mary, and his father, Thomas, were already sitting at the table and were reading the Daily Prophet. 

"Good morning, James, dear!" his mother said lovingly. "Good morning, Mum." James replied. "So James, Sirius is coming today to spend the rest of the holiday, right?" his father asked. 

"Yeah, said he'd be here around noon."

"Now James, I want your word that you two won't go trotting round the neighborhood causing trouble now that you're of age and can do magic outside school," his mother said reprovingly. 

"Yes Mum, you have my word that we'll be good little boys." James said sweetly.

"Good. Now get out of here and clean your room." She said with a smile.

He spent the next few hours awaiting Sirius's arrival. Sirius arrived promptly at noon and when he saw James, he lit up with a smile.

"Prongs! How have you been?" 

"I'm great, my fellow Marauder. It's just a shame that Moony and Wormtail can't join us!" James said with a maniac gleam in his hazel eyes.

The full moon was due tomorrow and Peter's mother hardly let him out of the house.  

"Poor Remus. It's too bad we can't be there with him during the full moon But, really, who cares about Peter? All he does is sit around and stuff himself with food and whine about classes," Sirius said.

"Yeah," James agreed.

There was several, short, loud taps on James's bedroom window. He walked over and let his eagle owl, Phelps, in. Clutched in his beak was a letter. James took it and opened it. It was the usual Hogwarts letter. But there was an extra bit to it. "Congradulations on being chosen Head Boy! On the train ride to school you will need to find the Head Girl and give instructions to the prefects. Your badge is enclosed." James sucked in a breath.

"_Head Boy?? This could be bad……but……very good," _ he thought with a smirk on his face. "_I can take points and give detentions to the Slytherins!"_  

Sirius looked over his shoulder to read the letter and when he read the part about James being Head Boy, he doubled over with fits of laughter.

"You?" he said incredulously in between laughs. "I don't believe it! Dumbledore must be off his rocker! I would've thought it would be Moony for Head Boy. He was the prefect after all. But……Prongs! This could be the best thing that ever happened to the Marauders! Imagine! We'll have loads of power! 

"Padfoot, being Head Boy doesn't mean I can just go around and dock points and give detentions and abuse my privileges!" James said with sincerity. " I have responsibilities now!" 

Sirius looked as though James had just told him that Christmas had been cancelled. But James broke into a wide grin and cried "Honestly Padfoot, did you think I was being serious?  Come on, lets go get some lunch." With that, they went downstairs where they met James's mother in the kitchen, preparing food. She broke into a huge smile.

"Why Sirius! It's absolutely lovely to see you! How have you been, dear?" 

"I've been doing all right, Mrs. Potter. How are you?" Sirius said politely.

"Oh, You know how it is around here with this one," She jerked her head in James's direction. She winked at the both of them. 

"Here boys, I've made sandwiches for you." She put a plate of them on the table in front of them.

"Look Mum, I've been made Head Boy at school," he told her excitedly, handing her his letter.

She snatched it up and read it. She let out a loud squeal.

"Oh Jamie! This is absolutely wonderful! My little boy, Head Boy at Hogwarts," She said proudly. "I can't believe it! Your father will be so proud of you!"

She reached across the table and pulled him towards her, covering his face with kisses. Sirius started to cough uncontrollably. It sounded a lot like laughing to James.

"Ok, Mum. I know you're happy but can you please get off?" He asked with a smile.

"Oh, of course James. Sorry about that. Got a little carried away."  She removed her arms from him at once, not wanting to embarrass him in front of Sirius as she already undoubtedly had.  "We'll have to go to Diagon Alley tomorrow to get your new things and we'll get you a new broomstick as a present. Would you like that?" she asked.

James smiled and said, "That'd be great, Mum, thanks."

After they ate their lunch, James and Sirius went outside to play Quidditch. Sirius played Keeper while James played Chaser. They played for a few hours then flew back down to the ground and started chatting.

"The letter didn't say who the Head Girl was. I wonder who it is," James said.

"It's probably Lily Evans. She is good at every subject and never gets into trouble." Sirius stated. "Either her or that stupid prat, Margie Woller, from Ravenclaw. Always running around, telling on every little thing you do." He said with disgust. 

"You play one little joke on her in 5th year and she turns into your worst enemy." James said with dismay.

"Well it was your idea to turn her hair green, James!"

"Yeah, well it turned back to normal, didn't it? Anyway, back to Lily. I hope she changes her mind this year, and decides to go out with me. If she's Head Girl, we'll get to share a whole tower!" he said with hope.

"Hmmmm. Nothing like a little alone time with Lily, right, James?" he said with a smirk.

"Oh, shut it, Padfoot! This year I'm not gonna chase after her. Maybe if I back off a little, she'll change her mind." He said. 

"Yeah, maybe." Sirius said. "Well, come on, lets go back outside."


	2. Chapter 2

Hey ppl, I completely forgot this stuff on the first chapter so here it is!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter related material in this story. I'll probably make up some things later on, but the rest belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Changing Heart

Chapter 2

It had been a month since Sirius had arrived at the Potter's and it was now time to go back to school. James couldn't be more thrilled with the idea of seeing his friends and Lily Evans again. On September 1st, he woke up at 6 and put on his best muggle clothes, a pair of baggy jeans and a striped rugby shirt, along with his trainers. He bent down to the floor and shook Sirius's shoulder to wake him. 

"No…..5 more minutes, Prongs….." and he fell asleep again.

"Get UP,  Padfoot! We're going to Hogwarts! We have to find Moony and Wormtail. _And Lily." _He added silently. 

James reached down again and shook both of Sirius's shoulders this time. "GET UP!"

"All right, all right, I'm up, you crazy idiot!" Sirius muttered.

5 hours later, they had managed to get their trunks onto the train and proceeded to look for an empty compartment. When they opened a sliding door, they found Remus and Peter already in it, waiting for them.

"Moony! How are you? You look well." James told him. And he did. The full moon had been a week ago and he did not look so pale and sickly as he normally was.

"Thanks Prongs. Peter here was just telling me that he heard that Lily Evans was made Head Girl. Do you know who the Boy is?"

"You're looking at him, Moony." 

"Yes, its true." Sirius said pompously. "Our little Prongs has been named Head Boy. Could things get any better during our last year at Hogwarts? Think of all we can _do_, he said in awe, without having to worry about being caught by anybody."

"Oh, that reminds me. My letter said I had to go find the Head Girl on the train and give instructions to the prefects. See you guys later! And try not to get in any trouble!" he leveled each of them with a menacing glare. The 3 of them started to crack up at the site of him being so strict. James started laughing too. Then he started to walk down the train towards the front looking for Lily. He went all the way to the first car when he finally found her. She looked so pretty, with her shoulder-length red hair and emerald green eyes. She was talking with the prefects, giving them instructions. 

She looked up when he entered and her face formed a scowl.

"Potter! What are you doing here? This car is for the Head Boy and Girl and the prefects. Get out!" She shouted.

"I'm supposed to be here, Evans." He said. He showed her his badge that he had put in his pocket.

"See?" he said with a huge grin on his face.

"Oh NO! How could Dumbledore do this to me?? I have to share a tower with POTTER?!?" she ranted, more too her self that anybody else. "I can't believe this! He's such an arrogant, big-headed, conceited JERK! Why is this happening to me???"

"If you've finished insulting me, I'll go back to my friends now!" he said with a hurt look on his face. He turned around and left the compartment, leaving Lily at a loss for words. She'd never seen him act so…normal before. She felt kind of ashamed of herself, acting the way she did. But then she thought of James's smirking face and all the pranks he and his friends had played on her in the past. _"He deserved it. He's always been so annoying." She thought. _But she couldn't get the picture of his hurt face out of her mind.

Lily sighed and left the compartment to go find her friends.

When she finally found her two best friends, Isabella and Carlene (who liked to be called Carly) they were talking animatedly about the famous Marauders.

"I can't wait to see Sirius!" Carly swooned. "He is such a cutie! And his friends aren't bad either! Except that little Peter. He looks kind of like a rat to me. What about you, Isabella?"

"I like Remus, he's really nice and smart and funny." 

Out of the trio, Isabella was probably the most serious and sincere. You could always count on her to tell the truth and for homework help. Lily was the smartest, she and James Potter were tied in every subject for the best grades. She was also very caring and you could always go to her for advice on anything. Carly was the prettiest in the group and always had the latest gossip. She was also the ditziest, but that didn't stop them from being the best of friends. 

"Lily, I saw James Potter go past a few minutes ago. He looked kind of upset. Do you know what's wrong?" Carly asked innocently.

"HOW SHOULD I KNOW WHATS WRONG WITH POTTER? HE'S NOTHING BUT A STUPID GIT!" Lily screamed at the top of her lungs. 

"Carly and Isabella gaped at her in horror.

"I….I…..I'm really sorry Lils! I was just asking if you knew!" 

"I'm sorry Carly. I didn't mean to yell at you. It's just that Potter makes me so mad sometimes! He drives me crazy!" Lily was breathing heavily thru her nose as she told them about his being Head Boy.

"Wow. I thought it would be Remus." Stated Isabella.

"Yeah, me too!" At least I could've coped with sharing a tower with him! But I don't know about Potter…..he's so arrogant and big-headed!"

They continued to talk about James and the other Mauraders until they arrived at Hogwarts.

"Well, I've got to go tell the first years where to go. I'll see you guys in the Great Hall!" she told her friends. As she opened the compartment door, she walked head first into a tall person. She shook her hair out of her eyes and looked up into the grinning face of James Potter.

"Why, Evans, it's always a pleasure running into you!" and he turned on that charming smile that most girls swooned over. But not Lily Marie Evans.

"Potter! Watch where you're walking next time! You should be doing your duties as Head Boy and show the first years where to go!" She retorted.

James turned around to his friends and grinned. "First years." He muttered to his friends. "Get ready to empty your Zonko's bag!"

Sirius pulled a Dungbomb out of his pocket. "Yessir, Mr. Head Boy!" and thru it out the window into a crowd of terrified looking first years.

Lily huffed at this and turned around swiftly, flipped her hair over her shoulder and climbed out of the train.

"First years! Go to Hagrid! He'll take you to the castle! You can't miss him, kids! He's the big one over there by the lake!" She told them. "You need to do your job, Potter"

"Yes mam!" he saluted her.

"Oh, and 3 points from Gryffindor, Sirius." She scowled at the lot of them and then stalked away..

"_Oh, and 3 points from Gryffindor, Sirius."_ Sirius mimicked her in a pinched voice as he watched her walk off. "Honestly Prongs, if she wasn't so good looking, I wouldn't know what you see in her!"

James smiled to himself. Ah, her attitude. Just one of the many things James loved about her

A/N

*Well, I hope you guyz are enjoying this so far. This is my first fanfic. I hope its ok! I'll start on the 3rd chapter A.S.A.P.!

Thanx!  ^_^


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey guyz….here's the 3rd chapter! Hope ya like it! 

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Harry Potter related! It's all J.K. Rowling's! I do own Carly and Isabella and I'll probably be making up some names as I go along.

James and Lily: A Match Made in Hogwarts

Chapter 3

After all the students sat down at their house table in the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall led the scared looking 1st years into the Hall and explained that the Sorting Hat would place them in their houses. 

"Albertson, Jennifer!" the Sorting began. James's stomach rumbled loudly. Finally when  Walters, Rebecca became a Ravenclaw, Professor Dumbledore stood up at the High Table and beamed down at them all. 

"Welcome, to another year at Hogwarts! Time seems to pass quickly, doesn't it? Your Head Boy and Girl this year will be James Potter (there was a loud burst of applause and whooping) and Lily Evans (the clapping and whooping continued for her). James grinned sheepishly while Lily's face turned as red as her hair.  "First years are reminded that the Forbidden Forest if out of bounds. Mr. Filch has requested for me to remind you, that no magic should be performed between corridors. You can also see the list of restricted items, outside his office. Ten new things have been added, so I suggest you take a look at it. 

The Marauders all grinned at each other when he said this.

"I wonder if they added Dungbombs this year," Sirius muttered to Remus. "Not that it matters of course….."

Remus gave a disapproving look and shook his head. "Will you ever learn?"

"Be quiet, you two! I'm trying to listen!" James told them.

"Oh, and I will need to see the Head boy and Girl before you leave," Dumbledore continued. "Now….let the feast begin!"

All at once, food appeared in front of them and they hungrily began to eat.

"So, Prongs," Peter started, "Do you think Gryffindor will get the Quidditch Cup this year?"

"Of course we will, Wormtail! What kind of a question is that? We've got the best ruddy team in the school!"

James was the Sneeker and the team captain. The team consisted of Rachel Heckert (Keeper) , Reese Waltrip (Beater), Benjamin Keller (Beater), Monica Riley (Chaser) ,  Dillon Landers (Chaser) and one of Lily's best friends, Carly Peterson, she was the best Chaser out of the three. James also found it useful that she was so close to Lily. She sometimes gave him advice.

The feast ended and James made his way up to the High Table to speak to Professor Dumbledore. Lily was close behind him. 

"Ah, my new Head Boy and Girl! Your tower is on the same floor as the Astronomy Tower. You should be able to find it easily. The password is Fizzing Wizbee. Well, you should probably lead the Gryfindors to the tower." And with that Dumbledore winked at them, then strode off.

Lily and James turned to face each other. She scowled at him and then left to lead the Gryffindors away. James sighed and ran his hand thru his hair. He then made his way back to his friends and together, they set off for the Gryffindor Tower. James left them there to go with Lily to find their new tower. "Good luck, Prongs!" Sirius called after them and winked. James gave him a small smile. As they walked along, Lily kept a straight face and didn't look at him.

"So, Evans, do you think you'll go out with me this year?"

"When hell freezes over, Potter." She said coldly.

James took that as a maybe, and smiled at her. She didn't say another word to him, the whole way there. When they reached the portrait to give the password, Lily cut in front of him.

"Fizzing Wizbee," she said loudly and firmly.

The portrait swung open and they climbed through the hole. They stood in awe at what they saw in front of them.

The walls of their common room were painted a deep, scarlet and had gold trim. There were two soft and squashy looking armchairs and a couch, all situated in front a huge fireplace with the Hogwarts crest, emblazed above it. To the right of where they were standing, there were three doors. One had 'James Potter' written across it and the one in the middle must have been the bathroom, because the other door and 'Lily Evans' written across it. Lily crossed the room, entering her door. James broke into a run and leapt over the couch and thru himself down on it. 

"Wow. This place is really great. Being Head Boy won't be so bad after all," he thought.  He looked across the room and noticed a tall, white refrigerator. "Hey! I remember that thing! Padfoot, Moony, and I found that in 4th year."  If you tapped it with your wand, it instantly filled with whatever food you wanted at the moment. He pulled his wand from his robes and tapped it. He opened it and it was filled with different kinds of ice cream. "Excellent!" he thought. But he wasn't really hungry so he closed the door and the ice cream disappeared. He got up and crossed the common room and pulled open his own door. He had a big double bed, which had the Gryffindor lion embroidered on it. He also had a huge wooden desk and a gigantic wardrobe. His trunk had already been brought up to his room and his opened it and started taking out his school supplies. He put his parchment, quills, books, and potions supplies on his desk and he put his brand new broomstick, a Nimbus 500, into his wardrobe for safekeeping. He noticed a door and pulled it open. It was the greatest bathroom James had ever seen in his life. There was a counter with two sinks, a vanity, ("For Lily," he thought.),  a toilet, and a pool-size bathtub with about 25 different taps. James played with each of them for a few minutes before he crossed the bathroom and slowly opened the door that lead to Lily's room. 

Lily had been putting away her things too. She hummed as she set things in their place. She liked her room to be kept nice and neat. She had her back to the bathroom door, but she heard it open and flipped around, causing James to jump.

"Potter!" she snarled. "What do you want?"

"Just thought I'd come see your room. I figured I'd be seeing it often." He smiled and gave her a huge, cheesy wink. As he watched her face become white with rage, he quickly said "Only joking, Evans, only joking. Can't you take a joke?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Yes, Potter, I can take a joke. But its YOU I can't stand. So, if you don't mind, will you please leave?"

He looked around her room in disbelief. 

"Bloody Hell, Evans! How can you be so neat in here? You've been in here 10 minutes and it looks like a hotel room, not somebody's bedroom!"

"OUT, POTTER!"

"Have you been in the bathroom yet?" he said, trying to get back on her good side. " That bathtub in huge isn't it? You could have a party in that thing!"

"Yeah, it is pretty big." She gave him a small smile. 

"Well, I think I'll go finish unpacking. See you later!" He gave her a huge grin and ran a hand thru his hair.

Lily rolled her eyes at his retreating back. "Potter and his stupid hair! Always running his hand thru it! Like he thinks he's being cute or something! But, it is kind of cute sometimes……" Lily thought about what she had just said and smacked herself on the forehead. "What's wrong with me? Potter isn't cute! He's a pompous jerk!" 

She looked through the bathroom door that James had left open when he left. She could see thru to his room. He was asleep on his bed. A smile was on his face. Lily grinned at the sight of his innocence as she slipped into bed and drifted off to sleep.

*****************

Hope ya'll like it! I'll get started on Chapter 4 soon!

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	4. Chapter 4

Here's chapter 4! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Everything related to Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. I've made up a few names but the rest is hers! I don't own him! So don't sue me!

James and Lily: A Match Made in Hogwarts

Yay! I got reviews!  Thanks **coolmel, luv2laugh, and Scarlett3, SlippersRfuzzy, and cunning critic!**

I'm glad you guyz like my story! 

Chapter 4

"No!!! Leave me alone!"

James was jerked awake by a loud cry.

"Please! Don't hurt me!"

"There it was again! It sounds like its coming from Lily's room!" James thought.

He jumped out of bed and went thru the bathroom. He peered into Lily's room. She was asleep, but her face was sweaty and she was tossing and turning. She kept moaning, "No….no…….no."

James had to do something. He couldn't just let her continue to have the nightmare. He walked to her bedside and bent down to his knees. 

"Lily!" he whispered loudly. "Lily! Wake up!"

She sprang up in bed, breathing heavily. 

"James! It was horrible! People wearing….wearing masks were trying to kill me!" She threw her shaking arms around his neck. He was shocked. Lily Evans had never touched him on purpose before. She started sobbing onto his shoulder. He put his arms around her and patted her softly on the back. "It's all right, Lily. It was just a nightmare. It's ok…."

Lily's eyes sprang open. She seemed to have just realized who he was. She pulled away from him with absolute rage.

"POTTER! GET OUT! WHY WERE YOU IN HERE ANYWAY! GET OUT! GET OUT NOW!" she screamed at him.

With a look of confusion and despair, James stood up quickly and darted from the room, muttering something about crazy women.

"AND DON'T LET ME CATCH YOU IN HERE EVER AGAIN!" 

Lily immediately felt bad for screaming at him like she did. It was such a scary dream and he was just trying to comfort her. She was probably crying out in her sleep anyway, her sister Petunia was always complaining that it was horrible to share a room with Lily, because she talked in her sleep. She rolled over and went back into an uneasy sleep.

The next morning, Lily woke up and heard James in the bathroom. Not thinking about it, she opened the door and walked in. 

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeek!" she screamed. James was in the bathtub, obviously taking a bath. 

"Hey!" he cried out.

"Oh my gosh, Potter! I'm so sorry! I didn't think you'd be IN the tub! I wasn't thinking! I'll go!" She turned to leave but James stopped her.

"Wait, Evans! You don't have to leave." He grinned. "I don't mind at all! Bet you don't mind either, eh?"

She scoffed at his arrogance and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I just wanted to apologize for the way I yelled at you last night, Potter. I'm glad you woke me up. I've been having that dream for a while now. You just surprised me by being there!"

He nodded seriously. "I had to do something. You woke me up. You were crying out in your sleep! I thought someone was attacking you! I….I….I couldn't let anything happen to you!" he said, blushing slightly.

Lily blushed, too. "Well, I'm glad you woke me up. Thanks James."

He stared at her in surprise. "You called me James!

"Yeah, well, don't get used to it. I'm gonna go get dressed then go to the Great Hall. Bye" She turned and went back to her room.

"Bye." He called after her softly. He couldn't believe it! He and Lily had a normal conversation!  He floated on his back in the water and sighed.  

At breakfast, everyone was chatting excitedly. James found his friends at the Gryffindor table and joined them.

Sirius saw him and shouted, "Hey Prongs! How was the first night in the tower with Lily?" he made his eyebrows move up and down a few times.

"Well, she had a nightmare and woke me up." He told them the rest of the story, including the part about their little encounter in the bathroom.

"She's acting really weird. She was actually nice to me!"

"Well, look on the bright side, Prongs! At least she doesn't hate you with a passion anymore!" Remus told him.

James frowned. "So, what does that mean? She just hates me now?"

"No, actually I think she might be starting to think you're not so bad after all! Now that you've punctured your big head a bit!"

"Gee, thanks Moony." James put some egg on his fork and flung it at him. It hit him between his eyes.

Next to him, Sirius got an evil gleam in his eyes. "Two words. Food. Fight." And with that, Sirius picked up a bowl of jelly and dumped it on Peter's head.

"Hey!" Peter shouted. He picked up a platter of pancakes and started hurling them at the other three. 

When everyone else saw what they were doing, they joined in. Before James knew it, he was covered in food. But he was having the best fun he had had all summer. 

"IMMOBULOUS!"

James and all the other students froze dead in their tracks. Professor McGonagall stood before them, shaking in fury.

"You four. Into my office." Her voice was shaking slightly. She had pointed at the Mauraders. With their heads down, they left the Great Hall. James caught sight of Lily and her friends hiding under the table, where they hoped to escape the food fight. When he caught Lily's eye, she shook her head at him, but she had a small smile on her face. James's stomach did a back flip. 

But a few minutes later, James and the others found themselves in Professor McGonagall's office, where she towered over them and gave them the most disgusted look James had ever seen in his life. 

"Never in all my life have I seen such behavior from Gryffindor 7th years. I would have expected this from 1st years. And you, Potter! You're supposed to be Head Boy! It's your job to make sure nothing like this happens! She shrieked. Pulling stunts like this could cause you to lose your badge, Potter! I'm taking 50 points from Gryffindor and –Sirius's mouth dropped open-yes Mr. Black! 50 points! Mr. Lupin, I would have expected better behavior from you, at least! (Remus dropped his head in shame) Now, get back to your common rooms and don't cause anymore trouble!" and with that, she shooed them out of her office. After they got a little ways away, the Mauraders started cracking up. 

"That was the best food fight EVER!" Sirius cried. "Even better than the one in 2nd year, when you hit Snivelly in the back of the head with a glob of potatoes, Prongs!

"Yeah." James said dreamily. "That was a good one, though!"

He, Sirius, and Remus made their way to their Advanced Charms class, while Peter headed off to his 5th year Transfiguration class. Prof. McGonagall thought it was best if he spent some time relearning some 5th year material. Peter had only received one O.W.L. in 5th year, and it was in History of Magic. It was the easiest class to pass as far has he was concerned. All he had to do was borrow someone's notes and he memorized them front to back.

Lily had been James's Charms partner since 1st year. "Well, Potter, she said as he sat down, that was some stunt you pulled in there."

"You noticed?" James grinned and ran his hand through his hair.

"It was kind of hard not too. You shouldn't really be doing stuff like that anymore, you're Head Boy!"

He put his arm around her shoulders dramatically. "My point, exactly, my dear Lily! That's what being Head Boy is all about!"

She shrugged his arm off her shoulders and said "Right. Come on, Potter, we've got an assignment to do."

But James could have sworn he saw a faint smile on her lips.

That afternoon, James had scheduled the first Quidditch training session. 

"All right, team." He said giving pacing back and forth in front of them, looking at each player.

"This is it. It's Rachel's, Dillon's, Carly's and my last chance to get the cup! We would have had it last year if that good for nothing Slytherin Seeker hadn't knocked me off my broom and grabbed the snitch from my hand. The stupid git."

"But that was last year. THIS year we are gonna kick some Slytherin booty! Can I get a HELL YEAH?"

"HELL YEAH!" the team chorused. They were pumped up. The team left the locker room cheering.

After practice and then dinner, James left his friends in the Gryffindor common room and headed to he and Lily's tower.

He found her, sitting in one of the armchairs in front of the fire. Her Guide to Advanced Transfiguration laid open on her lap but she stared into the fire, as though she was mesmorized.

"Hello Evans!" He shouted loudly.

Lily jumped up and her book fell to the floor.

"Don't DO that, Potter! You scared the shit out of me!" She leveled him with a glare.

"Sorry Evans, but you were looking at that fire like it had you under a spell. I thought your eyeballs would fall out!"

"I was just thinking about something."

"Me, I hope?"

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Don't get your knickers in a twist! Of course I wasn't thinking about you! Why would I be thinking about someone who is so full of himself?" she retorted.  

James smiled. "Why, Miss Evans! I never knew you cared!" he put his hand over his heart. 

But Lily just rolled her eyes at him. She bent down to pick up her book. 

"Allow me!" James charged forward and bent to pick up her book and stood up quickly. He handed it to her as she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Trying to be a gentlemen, Potter?"

"Anything for you, Evans." He said in a suave voice Lily had never heard before. She smiled. 

She stared into his hazel eyes for a moment. "_He has really nice eyes_," she thought. "_Wait a minute? What am I saying?"_

She broke their eye contact and blushed.

"I'm going to bed. Good night, Potter." She turned and headed to her bedroom.

"Good night, Evans!" he called eagerly after her. He watched her leave. He smiled and went to his own room, where he lay, thinking about Lily Evans, until he feel asleep.

**********************

*Whew* It took me a lil while but here's Chapter 4! Hope ya'll like it! ^_^  I'll start Chapter 5   A.S.A.P!


	5. Chapter 5

Here's Chapter 5! Hope ya'll like it!

Thanks for the reviews, guyz! It really means a lot to me!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Harry Potter related. I made up some names, but that's it! 

James and Lily: A Match Made in Hogwarts

Chapter 5 

Lily continued having the dreams, but she had found a charm that stopped her from talking in her sleep. She found it quite useful. She didn't tell James that she was still having them, though. She knew he'd be worried and she didn't want him to nag her about them all the time. She had managed to avoid James for a few days. Until the school's first visit to Hogsmeade…..

She, Carly, and Isabella had just been signed out by Filch when the Mauraders came up behind them. 

"Lily Evans!" James burst out behind her. He grabbed her hand and kissed the top of it. "You look absolutely radiant today! How DO you do it?"

She scowled at him and pulled her hand out of his reach, and wiped it on her long, black robes. 

"Why must you and your dopey friends follow us wherever we go? Are you some kind of stalker or what?" she demanded. "Leave us alone! "Come on guys." She told her friends.

But Carly was blushing at something Sirius had just told her and Isabella and Remus were having a serious discussion about their latest Arithmacy lesson. Peter was just standing there, stuffing sweets in his piggy face.

"Goodbye, Potter." Lily told him. She seized her friends, by the arms and dragged them down the path to Hogsmeade.

"Lils! Why'd you do that? Remus and I were talking about our Arithmacy homework!" Isabella told her angrily.

"And Sirius told me he'd never seen me look so beautiful!" Carly said.

Lily let out a groan. "Honestly, how can you two stand them? Sirius can be just as much as a jerk as James sometimes!"

"Lily, they were just talking to us. It's not a big deal!" Isabella said. "You complain about him so much that someone might get the idea that you actually _like_ James!"

Lily could feel her face start to turn red. She turned away from them when she said, "How can you say that, Izzy? I'd never like someone as big headed as him!"

"I don't know, Lily. You_ do _talk about him all the time!" Carly piped up.

"I don't talk about him all the time! He just makes me so mad! Forget about it! Let's just go to Three Broomsticks and get a butterbeer," Lily said, trying to steer the conversation to something else.

As the three girls went into Three Broomsticks, the Mauraders came out of the joke shop down the street, loaded with bags full of items.

"So, Padfoot, do you have a thing for Carly?" James asked.

"Well, I think she's cute as hell. She's a really good Chaser, too! I like her and I think she kind of likes me, too. What about you, Moony? I think that Isabella girl likes you!"

"She's my Arithmacy partner." Remus said as though it was some kind of law.

"She can be another kind of partner, if you know what I mean!" Sirius nudged him in the ribs a few times.

Remus gave him an outraged look. "Sirius, she's a really nice girl and I don't think of her that way!"

"Gosh, Padfoot! You're such a pervert!" James said with mock sincerity.

"Shut it, Prongs! You're no better than he is with Lily!"

"I don't think of her that way either, you prat! I wish she'd just give me a chance though, she's always looking at me like I'm about to pull some crazy stunt!"

"That's because you _are _always about to pull some stunt!" Remus piped up.

James laughed. "True."

They headed into Three Broomsticks and walked up to Madam Rosmerta at the counter.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the famous Marauders from Hogwarts. What can I get you four to drink today?" Madam Rosmerta said, giving them a big smile.

"We'll take four butterbeers please, my dear Rosie." Sirius said, turning on the charm. "And might I say, you are looking quite ravishing this morning as usual." He winked at her.

"Mr. Black, you are quite the charmer. Here, ( she thrusted the four butterbeers into his hands) take these, and don't be telling the other students that I just gave them to you for free!"

Sirius gave her another wink. "Thanks Rosie!"

He passed them around to the others. James began to look for an empty table. But, it looked like they were all taken. His eyes roamed around the pub, until the stopped on Lily and her friends. They were sitting in a huge booth. There was enough room for the four Marauders at their table.

"Come on. I've found us a table." He led them over to Lily's booth.

"What is it now, Potter?" she demanded.

"Well, Lilith, (Lily scowled, he must have just made that nickname up) as you can see, there aren't anymore empty tables in here and you three are taking up that big ol' booth by yourselves. The right thing to do would be to let us sit down." He gestured to himself and the other Marauders.

"And why should we let you sit with us, Potter?" she gave him a mean look.

"Come on Lily! Let them sit with us!" Carly whispered to her across the table. Her eyes were locked on Sirius.

"Yeah, Lils, there isn't any other place for them to sit!" Isabella pleaded.

"Oh…all right. You and your friends can sit down. But no funny stuff!" she told them.

They all gave her a huge smile and Remus said, "Thank you, Lily."

Lily had been sitting on one bench by herself while Carly and Isabella sat on the other. James sat down next to Lily and Isabella got up so Sirius could squeeze in next to Carly, so Isabella could sit next to Remus. When Peter sat down next to James, he had to move even closer to Lily. She turned to look at him and their eyes met. She felt like a deer trapped in the headlights. Their faces were only a few inches away. She turned away from him, she could feel her face burn and she knew everyone else at the table was watching them.

"So! she said loudly. What's in the bags?" she nodded at the joke shop bags they had set on the table. 

"Those, (James tore his eyes from her face) are the latest developments from Zonko's."

"Yeah, we're going to use those to torture Snivelly and his little gang of Slytherins!" Sirius said happily.

"Oh, I should have known." Lily said. "You know, as Head Girl, I could confiscate those." But after she saw the looks on their faces she quickly said. "But, as long as you don't hurt anybody, I don't see any reason too."

They all sighed with relief. "Good!" Sirius said. "I spent all my money on that stuff."

"Yeah, it's got to last until the next Hogsmeade visit." James said.

Sirius began chatting with Carly while Remus and Isabella started talking, once again, about their Arithmacy homework. Peter took out his homework and started to work slowly thru it. He was cramming more sweets into his mouth. James shook is head at this, and turned to Lily.

"So, Lilith, lovely day isn't it?" he asked pleasantly. 

"Yes, it's really nice today."

When he didn't saying anything right away, she reached under the table into her bag, and pulled out her Charms homework.

"Bloody Hell, Lilith. Is homework all you do?"

She gave him a small smile. "Yeah, Potter. Unlike you, I actually care about my homework. Not that it really matters for you. You're the best in every class without even trying!"

" Stop it! You're making me blush! Thanks for the compliment, Lilith! But I think you're actually beating me in some classes." He told her. 

Her smile widened. "I think we're about tied." She pointed around James at Peter, who took no notice. "What's his-"

She was interrupted by Severus Snape.

"Well, look what we have here!" he sneered at them. "A bunch of Mudbloods and pure blood traitors."

James and Sirius pushed Peter and Remus out of their seats so they could jump out, and pulled their wands. Severus had pulled his own wand.

"You should choose you're friends more carefully." He said to James and Sirius. "You're sitting in the company of a mudblood, you know." He pointed at Lily.

Lily jumped out of the booth and pulled her own wand. "Petrificus Totalus!" she shouted. 

Snape's arms and legs were bound instantly to his sides and he fell backwards, stiff as a board.

"Good one, Evans." James told her.

"Thanks." She replied.

One of Severus's friends quickly ran over and muttered the countercurse. Snape picked himself up off the ground. He had a look of pure venom in his dark eyes. He took a step towards Lily and she took a step back, her eyes wide with sudden fear.

"I would watch it, if I were you, Mudblood," he said in a small, oily voice. "Someone could sneak up on you in a dark corridor and attack you."

James jumped between them.

"Leave her alone, you stupid, greasy git!" he shouted at him.

"Yeah, and get out of here, before I curse you into oblivion." Sirius piped up.

Snape shot them one last, long, menacing glare and then he walked out of the pub. Noise started up again, for everyone in the pub had been watching them with interest. Lily sank back down into the booth, and a tear leaked out of her pretty green eye. James sank down to his knees his front of her.

"Come on." Sirius muttered to Remus, Peter, Carly and Isabella. They scrambled out of the booth and hurried out the door, leaving James and Lily alone at the table.

James put his hands on hers, that were scrunched together in her lap. She raised her head to look at him. 

"Lily, don't even give that greasy little prat a thought. You're worth a hundred of him!"

"I know…." Another tear leaked out of her eye. "But it really hurts when someone calls you a Mudblood. Like you're too disgusting to even be here. You don't know what it's like." She put her head back down and more tears fell.

James raised her chin. "Forget about him! No one else thinks of you that way, its just that stupid Slytherin idiot!"

She smiled shakily at him. "Thanks….James."

He grinned at her. "No problem. Come on, let's go find the others."

He pulled her to her feet. Lily brushed the tears off her face and grabbed her bags. She handed James his and Sirius's Zonko's bags. 

"Thanks." He told her. Then he grabbed her free hand and pulled her thru the pub, weaving though table and chairs.

When they walked out the pub doors, they met their friends, who were waiting for them. 

"Ready to go?" Remus asked them all. Carly and Isabella looked down at Lily and James's hands. She looked down to see what they were staring at. To her horror, she was still holding his hand. She pulled it away quickly and felt a blush creep onto her cheeks. Carly and Isabella nudged each other's ribs, giving each other a knowing look. Sirius and Remus had noticed their hands, and gave James a look that said "Go, James!"

When Lily pulled her hand from his, James looked surprised for a second then recovered by putting a big smile on his face.

"Well, guys, we're getting out of here." Isabella told them.

"Yeah, see you later!" Carly gave Sirius a wink.

"Ok, Bye!" the Marauders chorused.

"See you in the tower, Lily!" James added with a smile.

Lily looked at him with a dazed look on her face, like she had just realized where she was and what she was doing.

"Yeah……..bye…………" she gave them a small wave. Her friends grabbed both her arms and tugged her down the road, like she was a little kid whose feet didn't want to move.

Sirius stared after them. "Wow, Prongs. I think Lily might be starting to like you."

"Yeah, I hope so." James stared hopefully after Lily, watching her pretty red head disappear down the path.

"WHEW* That Chapter was really hard! I've been working on it for hours! I'm trying to get a chapter out a day.  I think I'll put a Quidditch Match in the next chapter. What do you guys think? Well, it's late and I'm tired. I'll get started on Chapter 6  A.S.A.P. and I'll probably have it up sometime tomorrow! Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6! Enjoy! WARNING! Snape tries to do something that's not so nice to Lily in this chapter! 

Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! I'm glad ya'll like my story! I'm thinking of writing a Harry/Hermione fic next, what do you guyz think? ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Harry Potter related! I've made up some names but THAT'S IT! Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling! So don't sue me! J

James and Lily: A Match Made in Hogwarts

Chapter 6

Later, that evening, in the Gryffindor common room, The Marauders were sitting on the floor in front of the fire, toying with their latest purchases from Zonko's. James, however, was staring into the fire, leaving his Zonko's items untouched in the bag. 

"Prongs!" Remus shouted at him, trying to get his attention.

 James jumped. "Huh? What is it?"

"Why are you staring at the fire? It's not good for your eyes."

"I'm just..uh…..thinking."

"About Lily?" Sirius asked.

"Well, yeah…..and what happened at Three Broomsticks today. Before school started, I had this dream about her. She was surrounded by men wearing masks and they killed her."

"You didn't actually see her die, did you?" Remus asked, alarmed.

"No, I just saw her face when they were about to. Then I woke up. Why?"

"I read in my Divination book that if you have a dream where you see someone die, they actually will in real life!" he cried.

Sirius snorted. "Honestly, Moony! That class is so stupid! You know all that stuff is a great load of tosh!"

Remus gave him a reproving look. "Padfoot, I know Professor Katora seems like a fake, but some of the stuff she says actually makes sense!"

"If you say so, Moony. But you don't think Lily is going to get killed by men wearing masks, so you?"

"I don't know." 

"I don't think she's going to get killed, but Snivelly threatened her. What if he pulls his wand on her in a corridor one night?" James said.

"When would Lily be with Snivelly in a corridor at night?" Sirius asked.

"He could sneak up on her!" James shouted indignantly.

"That doesn't seem very logical, James. He doesn't have any reason to attack her, except for the fact that she's muggle-born." Remus said.

"He doesn't need a reason! Snape thinks anyone whose not a pure-blood deserves to be killed, doesn't he?"

"Well, maybe you should keep an eye on her, then. Since you're so stuck on the idea that Snape and his little friends might attack her!"

"Maybe I'll just have to do that." James said with a tiny smile. Following Lily around wouldn't be any trouble at all. He would probably enjoy it.

He stood up and stretched. "Well, I'm going back to my tower. First Quidditch match is tomorrow, you know."

Sirius grinned. "How could we forget? We'll meet you in the great hall tomorrow at breakfast, ok?"

"Ok, see you." He waved at the three of them. Peter didn't notice. The whole time they had been talking, he hadn't said one word. He was reading a black book that didn't seem to have a title. James glared at him. He wanted to give the little prat a good kick up the-

"Oh, and James, don't go to the Slytherin common room, under your invisibility cloak. You don't want to start trouble." Remus said.

"Right." He turned and left the common room, making his way back to his own.

***

Lily had just gotten out of the bath. She put on her pajamas and wrapped her bathrobe around her. She sat down at her vanity table and started brushing out her hair. "_It's kind of nice having this all to myself_." She thought. "_At home, Petunia and I had to share one. Maybe that's the reason why she hates me so much, we always have to share things." _ Lily loved her sister, but she found it rather hard to like her sometimes. She was always giving Lily such mean looks and calling her names. Lily's mother, Rose, told her that Petunia was just jealous that Lily was a witch and she wasn't. But Lily didn't know, she thought Petunia just hated her guts for no particular reason. "_I need to send them an owl_ _tomorrow. I haven't sent them one since the first day of school." _She thought.

She heard the portrait open. "_That must be James."  _She set her brush down and walked out to the common room. But it wasn't James, not by a long shot. It was Snape.

"W-What are you doing here?" she stammered. "How did you figure out the password?"

Snape gave her an evil smile. "Let's just say I have ears all over this castle." He said silkily.

Lily backed away from him until she hit the wall. "_Where did I put my wand?" _she thought frantically.

He took a couple steps toward her. "Looking for this?" he pulled out her wand. She must have left it on the table next to the couch. He put it back in his pocket. "You won't be needing this for awhile. Not until I'm through with you."

"What do you want?" she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Snape sneered at her. "Well, since you're a _mudblood, _I thought I'd give you the greatest pleasure of your pathetic life and sleep with you. (Lily's eyes widened in fear.) But, tomorrow, I'm going to tell the entire student body that you begged me to sleep with you. I'm going to tell every Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin that the Head Girl of Hogwarts wanted nothing more than to sleep with Severus Snape." He had a maniac gleam in his eyes.

"No! You stay away from me! So help me, if you even touch me, you will be sorry!" she cried desperately.

"I don't think I'd be making threats, if I were you, Mudblood. Tomorrow, I'm going to tell you out loud in the Great Hall, that I can't ever sleep with you again, I can't allow myself to come in contact with such filth. Now, let's get down to business. ACCIO!" he cried.

Lily was dragged towards him. "Please don't do this, Snape!" she begged. _"This can't be happening to me! He's going to rape me and tomorrow, everyone will know about it!" _she screamed in her head. 

She came to a stop, her face just inches from his. He smiled evilly, and grabbed her shoulders. He forced his mouth onto hers and before Lily could stop him, he jammed his tongue into her mouth. Lily thought she was going to hurl. It was severl, painful, seconds before he tore his mouth from hers. He still had that maniac look, plus a triumphant gleam in his hideous black eyes. He shoved her down on the couch. "Don't move!" he barked.

Lily lay there, frozen. She didn't know what to do. Nothing you learned in Hogwarts could prepare you for this. She looked at him. Her eyes traveled downward. There was a huge bulge in Snape's robes. She closed her eyes with disgust. When she opened them again, she noticed her wand sticking out of his pocket. She made a lunge for it, but missed. 

"Stupid girl." He muttered. 

But at that exact moment, someone jumped through the portrait hole and landed on his feet. James looked at the situation in front of him. He felt white-hot rage bubble inside him. Forget about magic, he wanted to strangle Snape with his bare hands. He charged at Snape and grabbed him from behind and threw him backwards, away from Lily. She screamed bloody murder.

"What the hell are you doing here, Snape?" James's voice was quiet with rage. He looked ready to kill.

Snape drew his wand, but James had already jumped him and threw him on the floor. He began punching him in his greasy face. Snape drew up his legs and kicked James in the stomach, knocking him back. He threw his wand aside and tore at James. He sank his fist into James's stomach. James reared back and kicked him with all his might in the side of the head. Snape stumbled backwards and then he fell to the floor, unconscious. Blood was trickling from his mouth. 

James sank to his knees on the floor, breathing hard. He looked across the room at Lily. She was sitting on the floor, with her knees drawn up to her chest. She was shaking. James crawled across the floor towards her.

"Lily…are you all right? He didn't….he didn't rape you did he?"

"N-n-n-no…..he was about to, though. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't come." She buried her face in her hands, but she didn't start to cry.

He sat down on the floor next to her and put his arms around her. Her head fell onto his shoulder and she started to cry for real. "I don't know what I would've done….." she said again, sobbing.

He stroked her still wet hair. "Sh……..it'll be all right. I'll make sure he never comes near you again. I'll kill him next time."

Lily let out a sigh and her sobs stopped. She sniffed. "Thank you, so much, James. She sniffed again. "I would've stopped him but he got my wand. All he really did to me was….kiss me." She said with horrible disgust. "I thought I was going to be sick."

James eyes widened with anger. "That must have been terrible, that greasy son-of-a-bitch actually touching you."

"Yeah, it was." Her head was still rested on his shoulder. She sighed again and wiped her eyes. 

"Well, we better get him off to the hospital wing."

"Aw…do we have to? Can't we just pitch him out the window?"

She gave him a shaky smile. "Come on. Help me get him out of here." They both stood up.

Lily walked over to Snape's unconscious form and pulled her wand out of his pocket. She conjured up a stretcher and slid it under him and as it rose up, James helped her get him through the portrait hole.

Just before they got to the hospital wing, Lily put a memory charm on Snape. "So he won't remember what happened and he won't remember his idea." She explained.

They told Madam Pomfrey they had found him in a corridor. They had no idea what had happened to him. She told them she was just going to let him sleep it off til morning.

It was almost 12 o'clock. Lily yawned loudly.

"Tired?" James asked.

"Yeah, I think I'm about to collapse." As she said that, she stumbled a little. James put his arm around her shoulders, holding her up slightly. 

"Here, let me help you."

She gave him a sleepy smile and mumbled, "thanks."

When they got back to the common room, James led her into her bedroom and sat her down on the bed. She got under the covers.

"Well, goodnight, Lily. If you need me, I'll just be two rooms away." He turned to leave.

"No!" she croaked. "Please stay in here with me! I don't want to be alone! What if he comes back? Here-" She grabbed her wand from her bedside table and conjured up a twin mattress, a pillow, and a blanket. "You can sleep right there. Please? I won't bother you, I just want someone in the room with me!" She gave him a pleading look, her green eyes wide.

"Well, I guess I can stay in here. Let me go change into my pajamas." He went into his room and quickly changed. When he came back, Lily's eyes were closed but she said, "Thanks, James."

"No problem." He settled down onto the mattress and laid on his back. He put his hands behind his head.

"Sweet dreams, Lily!" he said.

"Goodnight, James. Make sure you get enough rest for your Quidditch game tomorrow."

In all the excitement, James had completely forgot about Quidditch tomorrow against the Slytherins. James was going to teach those idiots a lesson. You don't mess with a Potter. _Or an Evans." _He added. As Dumbledore as his witness, he would never let Snape put his filthy hands on Lily again. He would rather die than let Snape hurt Lily. He would get even with Snivelly if it was the last thing he ever did. Lily's soft, even breathing calmed him. She draped her arm over the side of the bed, her hand just in James's reach. He grasped her smooth, small hands in his, and to his surprise, she grasped his back. And he fell asleep like that, their hands held. Like it was meant to be. 

*******

*Whew* Again! Well, that's Chapter 6! But I'm not done! I didn't get around to the Quidditch match in this one. I thought I was, but I came up with this idea. I promise the Quidditch match will be in Chapter 7 though which I will get started on tomorrow! I hope you liked this one! Thanks for reading!!!


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7! Enjoy!

Again, thanks for all the reviews! Love ya'll!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Harry Potter related! Don't sue me!

James and Lily: A Match Made in Hogwarts

Chapter 7

When James woke up the next morning, Lily wasn't lying in her bed above him. Startled, James jumped up, looking around the room for her. "Lily!" he called out. No answer. Snape didn't come after her again, did he? James checked the bathroom. "Lily?" But no one was in there. He walked out to the common room. He breathed a sigh of relief. She was sitting in one of the armchairs, with a book on her lap. There was a plate loaded with eggs, bacon, and toast on the table beside her. She looked up and smiled.

"Good morning, James!" she said pleasantly She closed her book and put it down on the floor and set her hands in her lap. "Did you sleep well? I've got you a spot of breakfast. You've got that Quidditch game at noon, you know. Here, come eat."

James sat down in the chair next to her as she handed him his plate. "Wow, you didn't have to do this, Lilith. Thanks!"

"I know I didn't have to, but I wanted to. I wanted to thank you for rescuing me from Snape last night. I really don't know what I would've done if you hadn't come when you did." She said.

"Really, Lily, it's all right. You don't have to keep thanking me." He said through a mouthful of bacon. "Don't worry about it."

"It's going to be so awkward when I see Snape. He won't remember what happened or what he planned to do, but I will. I hope he doesn't try to do it again, though." She shuddered

"Don't worry. I'll keep an eye on him, if you like. I'll make sure nothing happens to you." He said determinedly. 

She gave him a small smile. "Thanks. I appreciate it."

They continued to smile at each other for a minute, caught up in each other's eyes. James tried to take a bite of his toast but missed his mouth entirely and dropped it on his lap. He blushed.

Lily let out a giggle and stood up. "Well, if you're done eating, we should go down to the Great Hall. I've got to find my friends. I'm not going to tell them about what happened, please don't tell yours either." She gave him puppy dog eyes. 

"It'll be our secret, Lily." He said solemnly. 

"Thanks…well, come on, lets go."

They set off for the Great Hall together. When they were about to go in, Snape and his little gang of Slytherins came out. Lily froze and reached for James's hand.

"Don't look at him," James whispered. Lily clutched his hand tighter.

Snape gave them a fleeting look and walked over to them. Lily backed away.

"I know you two had something to do with me waking up in the hospital wing. When I find out what you did, you'll be sorry." He glared at them, then walked away, but turned around and said "oh and Potter, good luck against the Slytherins today. You'll need it." And with that he swept away.

"See? He has no idea." James said to Lily. 

"That's good." She let go of his hand. "There are my friends, good luck at Quidditch!" she kissed him on the cheek and looked up at him. Her cheeks blushed slightly but she grinned at him. She turned and made her way to her friends. James's eyes swept up the Gryffindor table until he saw his friends. They were staring at him with their mouths hanging open. They had obviously seen Lily kiss James on the cheek. Sirius broke into a huge grin and he flashed James a thumb's up sign. James grinned sheepishly and also made his way over to them. 

"What happened?" Remus demanded. "Do my eyes deceive me? Or did Lily Evans just…kiss…YOU?"

James simply nodded.

"All RIGHT, JAMES!" Sirius cried, triumphantly  "You finally got Lily to like you!"

"Wait, I don't think she likes me. I just helped her out with…something. She was just thanking me, that's all…..at least, I think she was just thanking me." James said uncertainly. 

Sirius said "Yeah, sure. I'd like girls to thank me like that." He winked at James. 

"Yeah, yeah, yeah it's not a big deal, you idiot." James smacked the back of his head.

"Stop it, you two! Why can't you act more like dear Wormtail here," he gestured beside him to Peter, who was stuffing his mouth with kippers. He looked up. "Wha-?"

The other three Maruaders rolled their eyes. When Peter finished stuffing his face with food, they left the Great Hall and headed back to the Gryffindor common room. They sat around for a few hours until 30 minutes before the Quidditch game was supposed to begin. James stood up and stretched his arms up above his head. "Well, I'd better head down to the pitch. See you after the game."

He made a quick pit-stop at his tower to grab his robes and broomstick. Lily wasn't there. "_Probably in the Library."_ James thought.  He made his way to the Gryffindor team locker room, where all the team members were sitting in there uniforms waiting for him.

"Where have you been, James?" Carly shrieked. "You told us to be here an hour early and you're late!

"I…uh..I got held up." He lied "I'm going to go put on my robes and when I get back we'll discuss  tactics for today's game."

He quickly ducked into the boy's changing room and pulled his robes with the captain's badge emblazed on his chest on.

"All right team!" he began his pre-game speech. "We've got this game in the bag! As always, Slytherin is going for size rather than skill. Their Beaters are two great lumps of wasted skin. When I past them, they were hitting each other over the head with their bats." He turned to the Chasers, Carly, Monica, and Dillon. "You shouldn't have any trouble scoring. Their Keeper tends to stay in the middle hoop and not move. Try to score in the left and right hoops." He turned to Rachel, the Keeper. "They're Chasers are pretty good, but you're better. Just keep your mind on the game and your eyes on the Quaffle and you should be all right. Their Seeker is good, I'm kind of worried about him, though."

"Don't." Monica said in her thick Irish accent. "You're the best Seeker in the school, everyone knows that. They don't stand a chance!"

"Monica's right, James!" Benjamin piped up. "We've got this game!"

Carly stood up on the bench. "Goooooooo Gryffindor!" Carly was known for in-taking large amounts of sugar before her Qudditch games. She started dancing up and down the bench. "Gryffindor! Gryffindor!" she chanted over and over. The rest of the team joined her. They all were pepped up now. "C'mon team!" James shouted. They swung their brooms over their shoulders and jogged out onto the field. The Slytherins were already waiting at center field with Madam Hooch. She was holding a large crate under her arm. James glared into the eyes on the Slytherin captain and Keeper, Andrew Brenner. He glared right back at James. 

"Captains, shake hands!" Madam Hooch barked.

James and Brenner gripped each other's hands. They both tried to crush the other's fingers.

"Mount your broom!" she barked again.

Fourteen players clambered onto their brooms and waited for the whistle.

Madam Hooch set the crate down and opened it. She let the two bludgers out and unleashed the golden Snitch. James watched it until he couldn't see it anymore. Madam Hooch mounted her own broom and tucked the Quaffle under her arm.

"On my whistle." TWEEEEEEEEEEET She threw the Quaffle into the air and Carly charged forward and grabbed it.

"Aaaaaaand there off!" cried the Hufflepuff commentator. "For Gryfindor, its Heckert, Walltrip, Keller, Riley, Peterson, aaaaaaaand Potter!" Boos from the Slytherin side, cheers and girl's shrieking from the Gryffindor side.

"For Slytherin, its Moore, Dullrey, Parrish, Elkinson, Towner, Aberfoyle, aaaaaaand Brenner!" Boos from the Gryffindor side, cheering from the Slytherins.

Carly had seized the Quaffle and was streaking to the Slytherin goal. The Slytherin Beater, Towner, hit one of the bludgers at her and it knocked into her arm, she dropped the Quaffle. But, Dillon, who had been flying below her, caught it and passed it to Monica. She flew down the field to the Slytherin hoop. The Slytherin Beaters were preoccupied with one of the Bludgers, leaving the other to attack their own Chasers. Brenner was flying in front of the middle hoop, just as James had said he would. Monica shot for the right. 

"She shoots!" the commentator cried. "and scores!" he added 10 onto the scoreboard. Cheers erupted from the Gryffindors.

"All right, Monica!" James called.

Brenner seized the Quaffle at once and threw it to Aberfoyle, who after he caught it, got a face full of bludger that Reese Walltrip had hit at him. Aberfoyle tried to pass it to Moore but was intercepted by Carly. Everyone streaked back to the Gryffindor hoops. Carly shot for the left hoops and scored.

"Another goal for Gryffindor!" the commentator added 20 to the scoreboard.

James had been so into watching the action below, he forgot what he was doing. "_Focus! Look for the Snitch!"_ his eyes scanned the crowd. His heart leapt at what he saw. Lily was sitting with her friend, Isabella and the other Marauders. They were holding up a large banner that said, "Go Potter and Peterson!" the colors clashed in Gryffindor colors and the lion on the banner looked so realistic. It was moving around and roaring into the crowd. James beamed at this. Lily was screaming, her pale cheeks were red in the cool weather. James had never seen her so excited over a Quidditch game before. A piece of homework maybe, but never Quidditch. But she was really into it, she was following Carly with her eyes and was cheering her on. She looked up at James, who was hovering above her. She smiled up at him and shouted encouraging words that James couldn't here over the roar of the lion on the banner. He continued to watch her until a flash is gold zoomed behind him. He caught a glimpse of it and chased after it. Cheers from the Gryffindors told him that one of their Chasers had scored again.

"James! Watch out!" Monica cried out.

A bludger was flying towards his head. But out of nowhere, Dillon flew in and smashed it with his bat, sending it pelting towards the Slytherin Seeker, Elkinson, who had obviously not seen the flash of gold James had. 

'Thanks!" he called quickly to Dillon. When he looked at the bludger, he had lost sight of the Snitch. It had disappeared again. 

He flew around the field, above everyone else, looking for the Snitch. 

More cheers from the Gryffindors told him again that they had scored. A few minutes later, the Slytherins cheered, Dullrey had scored. 

Gryffindor was up 40-10. James really needed to find the Snitch. He continued to look for 15 minutes. The score was now 70-30. If James didn't find the Snitch, Slytherin would win.

He saw a glimmer of gold above the Gryffindor stands. He charged towards it. Elkinson had also seen it and was flying towards it.

Once again, Towner saw what was happening and hit one of the bludgers towards James. Benjamin was ready though, he flew between James and the bludger and hit it away. Elkinson couldn't stop his broom on time and the bristles of it smacked Sirius right in the face. He jerked it back and Elkinson fell off his broom, right onto Peter's lap. Sirius grabbed Elkinson's broom and dropped it into the pitch. 

TWEEEEEEET! "Penalty to Slytherin!" Madam Hooch cried out. "Gryffindor fan interfered with the game!"

Everyone around Sirius patted him on the back. Elkinson gave him the look of death and waited for madam Hooch to bring him his Broom from the ground. He mounted it quickly, but managed to kick Sirius in the jaw.

Siriius leapt at him as he flew away, but Remus grabbed him round the neck and threw him back into his seat. "Piece of rubbish." He muttered.

"Look, Look!" Lily cried. "James is still chasing the Snitch!"  
  


James was still chasing after it, dodging in and out of the Chasers and Beaters. His hand was stretched out, trying to grab it. Moore came out of nowhere and braced himself in front of James. Before he could swerve out of the way, James's broom hit Moore's and began to turn somersaults in midair. 

"OH! He's going to fall off!" Lily cried, her nails dug into Isabella's arm.

James's arms were flailing, but his hand enclosed around the fluttering Snitch. The crowd hadn't noticed. 

When he grasped it, his other arm let loose and James slid off the end of his broom. He fell to the Earth from about 20 ft. up. He landed on his back, the wind knocked out of him. But he was fine. He threw up the hand that clutched the Snitch and waved it in the air.

"James Potter has caught the Snitch! Gryffindor WINS!" the commentator cried.

A loud cheer erupted throughout the stadium. The Gryffindor team swooped down on James and began to cheer. "We won, we won!" The Marauders, Lily and Isabella joined in the celebration. Sirius high-fived James and said "Well done, Prongs!"   
  


Remus cried, "That was excellent, James!"

"Thanks Moony!" They were shouting, they could barely hear each other over the cheering. 

Lily ran up to him and threw her arms around him in a quick hug. She pulled back and kissed him on the cheek. "I thought you were hurt! I was so scared!"

He grinned at her. "I'm always all right! I never get hurt!"

"Well, just the same-" she broke off. He couldn't even hear her anymore. Reese and Benjamin had lifted him onto their shoulders and carried him back to the locker room, banging on things, and cheering the whole way. When they finally calmed down enough to let him down, James shouted, "Hit the showers!" The girls headed off to theirs and the boy's to theirs. 

James was the last one to change and leave. He pulled on his regular school robes again and left the locker room. The Marauders, Lily, Isabella, and Carly were waiting for him.

"Great game, Captain! We've taken the lead in the House Cup!" Carly cried.

James grinned at her, "Thanks. You didn't do so bad either, 60 points! Not bad!"

Lily watched him suspiciously. _"Wow." _She thought. _"James isn't claiming all the glory for himself! He really has changed, after all." _ 

James caught her eye. "Something wrong, Lilith?"

"No, nothing's wrong. Something's just occurred to me, that's all."

They all set off towards the Gryffindor common room, where they knew a victory party was beginning to rage. 

***

*Whew* Chapter 7! This is turning long, isn't it? lol! In the next chapter, I think I'll make it Christmas. I'll have some kind of ball, so there will be tension over dates, etc etc. Sound good?  If you haven't caught on yet, *just kidding* I add a new chapter every day! So Chapter 8 is on the way! Thanks for reading!

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	8. Chapter 8

ok……..so its been awhile……lol…but let me explain! I was writing this story in August and we got a new computer. I just now got around to installing Word on it……I actually wrote this chapter on notepad a couple weeks ago. Most of you probably don't remember my story……I'm really sorry about all this and I'm gonna try to finish this story out and start a new one! I think I'm going to have to read the whole story again so I can start writing new chapters…..I feel really bad about that! 

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. It's all J.K. Rowlings! So don't sue me!

Chapter 8

November passed quickly. James, the other Marauders, Lily, Carly, and Isabella were becoming really good friends. They sat together at the meals and studied for their subjects together in James and Lily's private common room. 

There was a visit to Hogsmeade in the middle of December, and the group was going to do their Christmas shopping. The girls were looking for new dress robes for the annual Hogwarts Christmas Ball that was to be held on Christmas Day. After a couple of butterbeers at the Three Broomsticks, the group separated to do their shopping.

"Oh my gosh, Lils! You have GOT to try these on! They go so well with your eyes!" Carly squealed.

"I don't know, Carly.....they aren't really my usual style!" But Lily had to admit. The bottle green robes were truely beautiful. They were the exact color of her eyes.

"Lily, don't be such a prat! You know you love them.....and so will James." Isabella smirked and waggled (?) her eyes. "He'll totally love them on you!"

Lily wrinkled her nose. "Izzy, James and I are only friends...nothing more! And he'll probably be too wrapped up in his date to even notice me." She added with a slightly jealous tone in her voice.

"AH HA! So you totally admit it! You DO care about what he thinks!" Carly shrieked triumphatly.

Lily looked around, panicked that someone might have overheard her.

"Would you keep your abmormally shrill voice down, please? Of course I care about what he thinks. He's my friend."

Isabella gave her a knowing look. "Of course you do, Lily. Now what do you think about these for me?" She held up ruby red dress robes to herself.

"No, Isabella. They are so not your color. You could do way better than that." Carly said in that voice that sounded like it knew absolutely everything about fashion. "You need these." She picked up a pale pink set off the rack and held it to Isabella.

"What do you think, Lily?"

"Huh...what?" She had just been thinking about Carly's accusations.

Carly sighed and rolled her eyes. "Lily, please try to pay attention. This is a life-or-death situation here! Now aren't these perfect for Izzy?" She and Isabella looked at her expectantly.

"Yeah, they look great. You should get them."

"Thank you, Lily." Carly said yet again in her triumphant voice. "Now, I don't want to hear another word about it, Izzy. You're getting them and that's that!" The robes Carly had already selected for herself were carelessly thrown over her arm. They were a deep purple, with glitter sprinkled all over them. They were going to look great on Carly. Lily knew she loved to stand out. And these robes just screamed "Look at me!" But that was what Lily loved abobut her friend, her amazingly high confidence. "Lily, you're getting those green robes whether I have to buy them for you for not!" Carly grabbed up the remaining sets of robes, threw them over her arm, and led Lily and Isabella to the long line waiting to pay.

*~*~*~

James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were, as they did during every Hogsmeade visit, in the Zonko's Joke Shop, pouring over the latest additions to the already overflowing shelves.

"Moony! Check out this new chew! It'll make your head look like a werewolf's!" Sirius cracked. "You should get it!" he said with mock sincerity.

Remus gave him a look. "Padfoot, I already know what it feel likes to have a werewolf's head. I don't need a chew for that." He said calmly.

"But you should get them! Shouldn't he Prongs?"

James smiled. "Sure, why not....."

"Hey, where did the girls say they were going again?" Sirius asked, suddenly clueless.

"They went to pick out new dress robes for the ball, dult, remember?"

The grin returned to Sirius's face. "Ooooooooh, that's right! Wonder how stunningly beautiful Carly is going to look..." he muttered dreamily. He had this silly-stupid look on his face. "Bet you can't wait to see Isabella, eh Moony?"

Remus blushed slightly. "I'm sure she'll look as pretty as always."

"Sure." Sirius turned to James.

"You better ask Lily to go with you, Prongs, before someone else does! That Ravenclaw guy has had his eye on her, you know."

"I don't know if I should ask her to go, I mean.......what if she says no?"

"She won't say no." Remus put in. "You know she'll go with you."

"But what if she thinks I want to be more than friends?"

"You DO want to be more than friends!"

"Yeah, but, for right now I'm glad we're just friends! This time last year she couldn't stand me! I don't want to mess things up with my stupid big head."

Remus laughed. "James, you know you aren't the same as you were last year. Your head has definetly "deflated"!"

"Yeah, Prongs, it's like you're a completly different person. Well...almost." Sirius grinned.

"That's true." James smiled in spite of himself. "I think I will ask her to go with me, anyway."

"Good. Now, let's get out of here before Peter wets himself." Sirius jerked his head in Peter's direction. The whole time they had been in there, Peter had been squirming anxiously by the door, waiting for them, all the while stuffing his face with the free samples from Honeydukes he had stolen from the lady who was handing them out in front of the shop. He had swiped them when she set the plate down to help her boss with the latest shipment. Why the lady had left the samples outside, James would never know, but that didn't give Peter the right to take them. 

"Right. Let's go, Wormtail." James rolled his eyes at the other two. 

They headed over to the robes shop, where the girls were just coming out the door with their parcels clutched under their arms.

Lily's eyes lit up when she saw them. "Hey, guys. Have you been having fun?"

James smiled down at her. "Tons, Lilith. Get your new robes?" He gestured to the parcel.

"Yep, and they look great on her." Carly chimed in, draping her arm over Lily's shoulders. "Bet you can't wait to see them, eh Potter?" Carly gave him a cheesy wink. She removed her arm from Lily and pulled James to the side.

"Quit being a prat, and just ask her to the ball!" she hissed. "You know you want to!"

James gave her a small grin. "Don't worry. I'm getting to it." He pulled away from her and went back to the group where the rest of them were having a conversation about the latest rumors they had heard about the ball.

"That's nothing!" Sirius was saying. "Dumbledore is getting 50 cases of red wine!"

"Oh, right, Sirius. Dumbledore is going to let everyone get drunk then head off to bed. I don't think so." Isabella said sarcastically.

"Well, is everyone ready to go back?" James asked them. This is his line. He and Sirius had rehearsed for this before breakfast this morning.

"Wait!" Sirius cried dramatically. "I have to ask the lovely Carlene Peterson a very important question!"

People all around stopped what they were doing and stared at Sirius.

James knew what was coming. Sirius was going to ask Carly to the ball, in a way that everyone would remember.

Carly glanced around around, smiling. She was loving the attention.

"What is it, Sirius?" She said in an equally dramatic voice.

Sirius gathered her hand his both of his and knelt to one knee. "Carlene Joanne Peterson, will you make me the happiest man at Hogwarts and go to the Christmas Ball with me?" He gazed at her with a huge grin on his face.

The crowd was eating this up. A cry of *aaaaaaaawwwww* went through the air. 

Lily rolled her eyes. "They so planned this." she thought to herself. Isabella was looking at Carly, waiting for her to answer. But then again, Isabella, the most serious of the three girls, was always the hopeless romantic.

Carly had her best smile on her face. "Of course, Sirius! I'd love to go to the Christmas Ball with you!" she cried dramatically. 

She pulled him up and wrapped her arms around him.

The crowd began to clap. Someone even whistled.

"Ok, ok, you two. That's enough! I've freezing my arse off here and Sirius is proposing!" Lily shouted

The others laughed and started moving again.

"Well, that only leaves James, Lily, Remus, and Isabella without dates!" Sirius grinned at them. "You better pick it up!"

"Don't worry, Prongs, We'll manage to find dates." Remus said, looking sideways at Isabella, who was looking back at him.

Lily turned to James, her cheeks flushed slightly, or maybe it was just the cold. "Can we please go now?" She asked the rest of them. "Some of us have Potions homework to finish!" 

Carly groaned, "Ugh, Lils, don't remind me."

"Well, let's get going."

The seven of them made their way back down the path to Hogwarts, where they separated, Lily and James heading to their common room, and the other four heading to theirs.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter 9 coming soon!!


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 8 seemed awfully short to me…….I'm gonna try and cram as much as possible into this one. The Christmas Ball will be in this chapter or the next, I promise! Hope no one's disappointed with it…tell me what you think in your reviews! ;-)

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, bluh, bluh, bluh….Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling except Carly, Isabella, etc, etc.

Chapter 9

After leaving their friends to head to their common room, things between James and Lily seemed awkward and tense. At least for Lily, that is. As they walked along the corridor she kept sneaking glances at him. He was whistling a Christmas song, 'God Rest Yee (sp) Merrye Hippogriff', Lily thought. Since she celebrated a muggle Christmas, she didn't know many wizard carols. *A/N I know some of the words in the song title arewrong, bare with me, thanks! :-D*

James caught Lily looking at him. "What? Do I have something on my face?" He immediately brought his hand to his face. 

Lily flushed. "No, there's nothing on your face, James. It's perfect."

He dropped his hand and gave a huge grin. "Wow, such a compliment, Lilith!"

Lily's face turned even redder._ "Why in Merlin's name did you say that for, Lily? Like you haven't been staring at him forever!!! Stop it! Get a grip on yourself!"_

"Well, I just meant there's nothing on it." 

__

"Good one, Lily!" she thought to herself.

Before James could reply back, they were at the common room door. Lily quickly muttered the password and jumped through. She didn't stop walking until she hit the bathroom. She shut the door behind her and locked it. She crossed the floor and sat down at her vanity table.

__

"Lily, you've really got to watch what you say around him, now that you're friends. You can't give him the idea that you want to be more than that!" She thought. She stared into the mirror at her reflection and sighed unhappily.

"A girl with a too-big-nose and hideous freckles. And this hair is the color of a rusty old fence. How can James Potter, the most popular boy in Hogwarts, even think of asking me to the Ball? And worst of all, why do I care?" she muttered aloud. 

"Lily Evans! How can you even think of such things!"

Lily jumped at the sound of Isabella's voice and she swiveled around quickly on her stool.

"Izzy! What in the world are you doing in here? How did you get in? How long have you been standing there?" She demanded.

Isabella's eyes widened in surprise at Lily's shouting. "Calm down, Lils. James let me in. Carly and Sirius went to the library and I didn't feel like hanging around by myself so I came here."

"Sorry about that, Izzy. You just scared me." She turned back around to the mirror and put her elbows up on the table and rested her head in her hands. She sighed again. "Izzy, look at my nose. Its enormous! How can anybody ask me to the Ball if the can't see my face because my nose is in the way!"

Isabella grabbed a chair that was on James's side of the bathroom and pulled it to Lily's stool and sat down beside her.

"Ok, first of all, where is all this coming from? You've never complained about your nose...or you're looks in general! You've always been the one telling Carly that looks don't matter! Are you feeling ok?"

Lily gave a weary smile. "Yeah, I feel fine. It's just this stupid nose!"

"Lily, your nose is absolutely normal! It's not big at all! You can barely even see your freckles anymore, and your hair is not the color of a rusty fence. I've always been jealous of your beautiful hair!" Isabella gave her a reassuring look. Hopefully, this was helping Lily.

Lily looked back into the mirror at herself. "You're right, Iz. What's with this sudden ditziness? It's like I've turned into Carly! My nose is still huge, though. Well, maybe I'm exaggerating. It does seem a little big though."

Isabella smiled. "Lily, the day your nose is huge is the day that James hates Quidditch!"

Lily laughed. "You know, I think this whole Christmas Ball is more trouble than its worth! There's so much pressure to find a date and look just perfect!"

"I know that a certain tall, handsome, Quidditch player is dying to ask you to go with him!"

"If you're talking about James-" 

Isabella interrupted. "Of course, I'm talking about James! Lily, why are you being so naive about him? You know he likes you." 

"He might like me, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's going to ask me to the Ball!"

Isabella clucked her tongue and shook her head. "Lily, Lily, Lily. You've got to wake up! James likes you and I'm positive he's going to ask you to the Ball!"

"Do you think so?" Lily asked in a small, shy voice.

"To quote Carly, 'Duh!'. Isabella said in a perfect imitation of their other best friend.

They both laughed.

"Lily…I don't want you to get mad or offended when I ask you this but…" She trailed off.

"What is it, Izzy? You can ask me anything!"

"Well….are you sure you don't like James in that way? Not even a little?" She asked uncertainly.

Lily stood up and went over to the door and peered out. James wasn't there. 

"Come on, Iz, Let's go sit in my room." _"That way I can put a sound barrier charm on the room." _She thought.

When they were in Lily's room, they plopped down on her big, comfy bed. Lily pulled her wand from her robes pocket and quickly muttered the charm.

"Lils, you still haven't answered my question. I swear, I won't tell anyone. Not even Carly!"

Lily started. "Well…its just that he's so different this year! He's nice and funny and not at all conceited. At least from what I see. When Snape tried to-" She stopped, aware of what she was about to say.

Isabella looked alarmed. "When Snape tried to _what_?" 

Lily's eyes darted around nervously. "Nothing. It's nothing. Nothing happened. Nothing at all." She babbled.

Isabella looked unconvinced. "If you say so…" She didn't want to get even more off subject when she was close to finding out if Lily liked James.

"Anyway, James is really different this year. His personality seems really different. He doesn't try to jinx or curse people just because he's bored anymore. He actually listens to me and cares about what I have to say, instead of just teasing me all the time. He's brave and an excellent Quidditch player. And he's got the nicest a-"

"I'm going to ask you one more time, and look me in the eye. Do you like James as more than a friend?"

Lily looked into Isabella's eyes and said very quietly, "Yes."

Isabella looked outraged. "Lily Evans! You mean to tell me that you actually do like James Potter and you haven't told me or Carly?" She practically shouted.

"Yes, I think I do."

Isabella broke into a huge smile. "I knew it."

"How did you know?"

"Oh, just little things. The way you look at him. The way you laugh at everything he says."

"Has it been too obvious?"

Isabella looked serious. "No, I don't think so. Carly and Sirius have been too wrapped up in each other to notice anyone else. Remus might, but he'd never come right out and say it, himself." 

"Oh…"

"_Well. _Now that that's out in the open, we can start doing something about it."

Lily looked confused. "Like what?"

Isabella looked thoughtful. "We'll have to start turning up your game."

"You have GOT to be joking, Izzy. Now _you're_ the one who's starting to sound like Carly! Honestly, even though I kinda like him, I don't want to be more than friends. Eventually, couples who date will break up. I don't think I could handle that."

"Lils, you are one of the strongest people I know. If anyone could handle a breakup, you could. But we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves. He doesn't even know you like him yet. If he asks you to the Ball, what are you going to say?"

"Well…..I guess I'd say yes…I'd go with him as friends. And that's what I'm going to say. I want things to stay the way they are between us now."

"Well, I guess that's good enough for now. It's a start!"

Lily smiled. "Yeah, I guess it is. Izzy, You've got to promise me that you won't say a word about this to anybody! Not even Carly. This cannot leave this room!"

"Don't worry, Lily, your secret is safe with me! I won't tell anybody. I promise."

The two girls linked pinkies.

"Thanks, Izzy. I owe you big, ok?

"Ok. Now, come on. Let's go see if we can find Carly if she and Sirius aren't snogging in a broom cupboard somewhere.

Lily pulled her wand out of her pocket and undid the charm she had put on her room. Then, she and Isabella went out into the common room where James and Remus seemed to be having a serious conversation of their own. But theirs was about the upcoming Quidditch match against Hufflepuff. James's face lit up when he saw Lily enter the room.

"Lily! Long time, no see!"

"Yeah, right, Potter." 

"Potter? What happened to James?"

"Oops, sorry, Jamsie!" She and Isabella cracked up as they went through the portrait hole.

James turned back to Remus who had a look of confusion on his face.

"What was that all about?" He asked.

"I don't know…but she called me Jamsie!" James had a look of adoration in his eyes.

"You're crazy, Prongs." 

"Crazy in love, Moony, She is just so beautiful isn't she." He stated.

"Isabella's just as beautiful, though."

"Sure, sure. But Lily…that's a whole different story."

At that moment, they heard someone's muffled shouting outside the portrait.

James got up and went through to see who it was. It was Sirius. And he had the dreamiest look on his face that James had ever seen. He also had some pink smudges on the skin around his lips.

"Uh…Padfoot? Are your ok?"

"Prongs, I am better than ok." He said in a faraway voice. 

"Carly?" James asked him in a knowing way.

"Oh yeah."

"What happened?"

"Well, I'm not one to go around bragging." Sirius said smugly. "But Carly Peterson can make out like there's no tomorrow."

"Way to go, Padfoot! You made out with one of the best girls in the year!"

"Yeah…" his voice was dreamy again. "I think I'll ask her to be my girlfriend at the Christmas Ball, since we're already going together. Did you ask Lily to go with you, yet?

"Not yet. Come on, let's go back in the common room."

****  


On the other side of the school, Lily and Isabella found Carly, actually in the library, with a book open in front of her. But she wasn't even looking at the pages.

"Carly, what are you doing here? It's late."

"I don't know."

"Have you been in here the whole time?"

"No, I was with Sirius."

"What were you doing with Sirius?"

"I shouldn't have done it. We didn't do anything, really, but I still shouldn't have done it."

"What did you do?"

"We made out a little bit. But now I'm afraid he'll think I'll do whatever he wants now."

"Carly, Sirius would never pressure you to do anything." Isabella started. "He likes you too much and he's not like that."

"I know, but still."

Lily put an arm around Carly's shoulders. "Don't worry about it. You know Sirius isn't like that. It's not like you to worry about something like that."

Lily and Isabella exchanged looks.

"I don't know. Sometimes I don't know if Sirius likes me for me, or just because he thinks I'm pretty!"

"Carly, he totally likes you for you! Sirius can come off like a prick sometimes but he's really a nice person!"

"I still don't know…."

"Look, its getting late I'll walk you two back to Gryffindor then I'll go back to my common room. We need to start catching up on our beauty sleep if we're going to be going to a Ball!" Lily said, hoping something like that would interest Carly. She perked up right away.

"Lily, you are totally right! How can I let Sirius see me with bags under my eyes? Let's get out of here."

The three girls left the library and headed back to their respective common rooms.

~*~

Well that's chapter 9….this chapter was really hard to write cuz nothing was comin' to me. Definitely Christmas Ball in the next chapter, though. I'll try to write it as best I can….hope ya'll like it! Chapter 10 coming soon!


	10. Chapter 10

Hey hey! Yet again its been awhile. It's not that I've been so busy with other things…..its just that I couldn't get any ideas for this story….when I first started it, it was summer and I didn't really have anything going on so I could devote my time to this. SO. On with chapter 10! 

Oh yeah, by the way, thanks to all the ppl who review this and have me on their alert list!!! That's so awesome, you guys! I hope each and everyone of ya'll like it. If ya don't, feel free to flame me! 

Disclaimer: you know how this goes. 

James and Lily: A Match Made in Hogwarts

I know the first paragraph doesn't really make sense, but its part of the plot! 

Chapter 10

The Christmas Ball was 3 days away and unbelievably, James still hadn't asked Lily to go with him yet. He was too worried about the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff, which had been rescheduled to before Christmas because a Slytherin beater had accidentally hit himself with his bat and there was only time for 1 match after the holidays. James had to have an emergency practice because the match was the day before the ball. Thankfully, all of the Gryffindor players were staying at Hogwarts over the break. Unfortunately, so were all the Hufflepuffs'.

It was the morning of the match. James was too nervous to eat anything.

"James!" Lily wheedled from her place across from him. "You have to eat something! You can't play Quidditch on an empty stomach."

"Not now, Lily." He shrugged her off. He was too worried and agitated to even talk to her. He was going over the Hufflepuff line-up in his head and was using bits of egg and bacon to make up plays. Something was different about this Quidditch match. He had never been this tense before a match. Sirius and Remus knew he was focused before he had to play but not like this. Maybe it was the fact that it had snuck up on him, he didn't know.

"Please, James! Just eat something! Do you want to be sour and bitter all through Christmas if you lost? Eat!" she commanded, but she would learn that she should have just shut her mouth.

James inhaled a quick breath and slammed both of his fists down on the table in front of him with such force that little bits of egg, forks, and knives leaped into the air and came back down to the table with a loud clatter. Lily shrank back away from him, her eyes wide in shock.

"I thought I said not now, Lily! I'm really busy here! I've only got two hours until the match and I've GOT to make up a decent play before then! So unless you know a play that will make our Chasers score a thousand points, LEAVE ME ALONE!" He felt like he couldn't breathe. Everyone was staring at him. He inhaled and exhaled many times before his heart stopped racing. He leaned over the table and rested his head in his hands. The silence that hung in the air was louder than a banshee's scream. 

Lily was still staring at him like he was crazy. Slowly, her face was turning pink. Her lips started to quiver in what looked like pure fury and her eyes started to glaze over. What was wrong with him? She had never heard him scream like that before.

"D-don't. Y-y-you. I…I." She sputtered. "Y-You can't t-talk like that to me!" Hopefully, she could regain her proper speech. "Nobody talks to me like that. And I especially won't let pathetic, arrogant, jerks like YOU!" She felt a warm tear slowly slide down her face. Horrified at the thought of letting him see her cry, she quickly brushed it away.

"I have to get out of here before I start bawling like a baby." She thought.She threw down the napkin that had been crumpled in her hand and stood up quickly. 

"Lily, I'm sor-" 

"Save it, Potter. I don't care." Then she started towards the doors and James thought she had walked out. He mentally beat himself.

__

"You are so stupid. You were finally friends and then you blow it over a Quidditch match. She'll probably never speak to me again, let alone go to the Ball with me." He buried his head in his hands again and sighed deeply. But he didn't notice Lily standing at the door watching him silently with tears dripping down her face. 

"I thought you really had changed, James." She said very quietly to herself. She sniffled and fumbled though her robe pocket for a tissue. She wiped away her tears and turned around to come face to face with Severus Snape. His facial expression went sour. Lily's eyes widened again and she backed away in fear. She couldn't forget what happened that night a couple months ago even though Snape remembered nothing of it. He looked slightly proud at the fact that she seemed to be scared of him.

"What's wrong with you, Mublood? What are you so afraid of?" he taunted.

"Nothing." She mumbled, her eyes darting around nervously.

"Where's your Marauder entourage? Or did they finally decide to blow you off because they didn't want to be in the company of a Mudblood?"

Lily's eyes narrowed with intense hatred. "Why don't you do us all a favor, Snape, and die?"

"OOH. Tough words for a Mudblood." 

The word echoed in her head. She could hear Snape chant 'Mudblood, Mudblood' over and over again. She put her hands over her ears, trying to drown out the sound.

"_Stop it! Stop!" _she screamed silently. It didn't stop. "Please stop! STOP IT!" she screamed out loud this time. 

Snape gazed at her in confusion. "What's wrong with you? Stop what? I knew you were a Mudblood but I didn't know you had mental problems as well!" He sidestepped her and headed to the Slytherin table in the Great Hall.

There were more voices besides Snape's now. Lily dropped to her knees, her hands still over her ears. Mudblood! Mudblood! Mudblood! She didn't know what to do, she couldn't think, couldn't hear anything besides that word.

"STOP IT, STOP IT, STOP IT, EEEEEEEEEEEE!" She just started screaming hysterically over and over. She didn't stop to take a breath. She just kept screaming as loud as she could, trying as hard as she could to drone out the sound.

The entirety of the Great Hall was on its feet and crowding around the entrance of the hall, trying to see who was screaming their head off. Dumbledore and the rest of the teachers were pushing their way through but not as fast as James Potter.

__

"I'd know that scream anywhere." He remembered when Snape tried to attack her andhow scared he had been when he heard it. When he was finally though the crowd of students, he could see a red-haired girl on her knees by the wall. 

"Lily." 

His tense mood evaporated. All he knew was that he had to get to her. He ran as fast as he could. When he reached her, he couldn't think of anything to do. He dropped down to his knees in front of her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders and rocked her back and forth, shushing her like he was comforting a crying baby. 

Gradually, her screaming died away to a soft whimpering, until it faded completely. She didn't speak at all. She leaned back against the wall and slid down to her behind and James slowly released her from his arms, not really wanting to let go. She opened her eyes and gazed up at him like a scared and confused child. More tears began to leak from her eyes.

"Lily, what happened? Why were you screaming?" He gently asked her. 

"Mudblood. That's all I am. And all I'll ever be. Just a stupid Mudblood." She said sadly. 

Dumbledore and the other teachers had finally made their way to them. Madam Pomfrey was also with them. Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent down on either side of Lily. McGonagall eyed James suspiciously. 

"What happened here, Potter?"

"I don't know Professor. She just started screaming and then I ran out here and stopped her. Then she started calling herself a Mudblood.

"She doesn't appear to be in any danger." Madam Pomfrey said while checking Lily's pulse. "But I think I'd better take her to the hospital wing, anyway. Lily was looking down at her feet sadly. Dumbledore pulled out his wand and made Lily stand up on her feet.

"I'll accompany you, Poppy. Maybe I can get to the bottom of all this." He and Madam Pomfrey led Lily away up the stairs to the hospital wing.

James made to follow them, but McGonagall held him back.

"Potter, the Quidditch match starts in an hour. I suggest you round up your team and head to the locker rooms." She still looked at him suspiciously. But she turned around and went back into the Great Hall, shoeing everyone else back inside.

Carly, Isabella, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were rushing towards James, all with worried looks on their faces.

Carly swooped down on him. "James! We saw Dumbledore taking Lily to the hospital wing! What happened? Did she choke on a kipper again? Please tell me she's ok!"

"Yeah, mate, what happened? We tried to ask Dumbledore but he told us to ask you." Sirius said. 

James quickly explained to them what happened. "But, I just don't know _why_ she was screaming like that. She didn't look like she was in any pain at all."

Isabella started in. "Usually when Snape or somebody calls her a Mudblood, it just bounces off of her. She's never fazed by it. I just don't know why it would effect her like it did, then."

Suddenly, something clicked in James head. "Snape." He quickly walked into the Great Hall, where Snape and his friends were just coming out.

James charged at him and before Snape could pull out his wand, James backed him into a wall and clutched the front collar of his robes and pushed his forearms into Snape's chest. 

"What the hell do you think your doing, Potter! Let go of me now!" He wiggled around, trying to loosen James's grip on him.

James's eyes looked as though they wanted to kill Snape. "If I find out that you had ANYTHING 'he dug his arms harder into Snape's chest' to do with what happened to Lily, you'll wish this was the worst I was going to do to you!" He let go of Snape and stepped back. "Now, get out of here." Snape just stood there. "GO!" he roared. Snape beckoned to his friends. "Let's go." He muttered quietly to them. They headed towards the Slytherin dungeon. 

Remus stepped in. "James, you really need to calm down. You have to go get ready for the match."

"Yeah…I know." James couldn't shake this feeling that he had woken up with. The tense, angry, worried feeling. He felt like he wanted to beat Snape until there was nothing left but a dead lifeless body. 

"James, are you sure you're ok?" Carly asked worriedly.

He turned and looked up at the stairs Lily had gone up. "I'm fine."

He went into the Hall to where the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team was waiting for their captain to lead them to the locker room, like tradition.

"OK, team. It's time to go. We've got a match to win." He said solemnly.

Meanwhile, in the hospital wing….

Lily was just waking up from a dreamless sleep. Dumbledore was sitting on the end of her bed, looking at her intently.

"How are you feeling, Miss Evans?"

"I feel fine, Professor. Why am I in the hospital wing?"

"I'm afraid I don't really know. You are the only one who can tell me that."

Lily was confused. But then things started to come back to her. "Snape called me a Mudblood. And for some reason, I kept hearing it in my head……..it just wouldn't stop! So I started screaming…and screaming…."

"I'm assuming this isn't the first time you've been called a Mudblood."

Lily nodded.

"Miss Evans, sometimes when someone tells us something over and over, we begin to believe it. My guess is that you've been hearing that foul word for 7 years, ever since you came to this school. That, and a combination of stress can cause us to, shall we say, go a little crazy once in awhile."

Lily nodded again. "Snape just called me that…and I just snapped. I couldn't take it."

"Miss Evans, you know not to let name-calling get to you. You are Head Girl, Head Girls are strong and mature, which I know you are. But even the greatest witches and wizards get stressed sometimes." He smiled at her. "Now, I think you'll be all right after a good rest. The Quidditch match is about to start. You surely don't want to miss it." Lily could've sworn he winked at her as he said that.

"Thank you, sir. I'm sorry for the trouble I caused."

"It's perfectly all right, my dear." With that, he turned and strode to the door and left.

Lily waited a few minutes before jumping up and heading out the door for the Quidditch pitch.

Outside on the pitch………

The match had started and Gryffindor was leading 30 points to 10. James hadn't seen the Snitch yet, and the Hufflepuff Chaser, Bones, was trailing him though the air. If Bones got the Snitch before him, they wouldn't win the cup.

"COME'ON CARLY!" James shouted. She had just dropped the Quaffle again. He had never seen her play so badly and figured she was worried about Lily.

But then, he saw it. A flash of gold near the Gryffindor hoops. He pushed his broom as fast as it would go. Bones had seen it too and he was right behind James. 

__

"Almost there." He was so close. He could see the wings fluttering away from him. But he was going to get it. He began to stretch his arm as far as it would go.

__

"Almost."

The crowd was roaring all around him. But he was deaf to it. All he heard was the fluttering of the Snitch's wings and all he saw was the tiny gold ball that was so close.

Bones was right on his tail. But a few more inches and it would all be over. His fingers closed around it. He had it. But suddenly-

James heard a loud thud and felt an unbearable pain in his side below his arm. A Bludger had hit him. It felt like all his ribs on that side was broken. It was hard to tell. He closed his eyes and let his body roll off his broom. And as he fell through the air he thought, "_Let it stop. Just let the pain_ _go away. Anything is better than this."_

Pictures and faces were flashing through James's memory, like a slideshow. His parents and other relatives, the Marauders, and finally, Lily. Her beautiful face was very clear in his mind. He could see her deep red hair, bright green eyes, and every last freckle she still had after all these years. She calmed him and always would. 

__

"If I die, and never get to tell _her how sorry I am for yelling at her, please let her know that I love her._" He wished.

He felt like it was taking an eternity to fall to the earth. He was moving slowly though the air until he finally hit the ground to which he heard the loudest crack he had ever heard in his life. His eyes flew open and he screamed in pain. He had never felt pain like this before and he couldn't move. He could see his teammates flying down to him from the air. He forgot, the game was over! Gryffindor won! He could hear feet stampeding towards him. "_I'll be fine. They'll be able to fix me up and I'll get to go to the Ball and see Lily. Even if I can't be her date, just seeing her will be enough_." He closed his eyes again. "_Everything will be OK……"_ He slipped into a peaceful, silent darkness.

Lily had made it to her friends in the stands in time to see James's fall. She felt like she couldn't breathe. There was a hole in the pit of her stomach that she couldn't explain. She couldn't speak. Isabella's eyes were wide with shock. "Oh my god…" she said slowly. 

Sirius and Remus were already pushing people aside. "Come on', Lily and Isabella! We have to see if he's…….alive."

The girls turned to each other. "You don't think he's….he couldn't be…." Lily said tearfully.

"He's not." Isabella said firmly. "Let's get down there."

They pushed their way through the crowds that were fighting their way to James. Dumbledore was already there.

"Stay back and let Madam Pomfrey through! This is an emergency! Let her though!"

When she got to James, she quickly checked his pulse, just like she had done to Lily an hour ago.

"Very weak, Dumbledore. We need to get him to the hospital wing immediately." Madam Pomfrey muttered. 

They put him on a floating stretcher and tried to get to the castle as quickly as possible. Lily, Isabella, Carly, and the other Marauders finally caught up to them in the entrance hall.

"Please, Professor. Is he going to be ok?" Lily asked fearfully.

Dumbledore looked down at them all with an apprehensive look on his face. "Once again, Miss Evans, I do not know. Come to the hospital wing later, we'll let you know."

Lily nodded. As they carried him away, the tears fell freely again. 

Carly threw her arms around Sirius and began to sob openly. Isabella and Remus leaned on each other, with looks of complete sadness. 

"James CAN'T die." Lily said through her teeth. "He just can't. Please be OK." She repeated it to herself over and over.

__

"Maybe Dumbledore was right. If you tell yourself something enough, maybe you'll start to believe it. Please let James be OK."

~*~

Holy cow……that is definitely the longest chapter I've ever done, even though its not very long. I know I keep promising the Christmas Ball, and I'm really sorry I haven't gotten to it yet. But its all part of the plot, you see. Absolutely , positively, it will be in the next chapter, there's no way around it! If its not, then everybody can complain about it in a review! Pinkie swear! Lol! Chapter 11 already planned and is on the way!!


	11. Chapter 11

Spring Break! Yeeeeehaw. So, rather than being bored all week, I've decided to work on this story. Hopefully, I will eventually finish it and start on another project. You see, I want to write when I grow up. But the problem is; I don't have anything to write about! It's crazy!

Disclaimer: DUH

James and Lily: A Match Made in Hogwarts

Chapter 11

For Lily, time couldn't be moving any slower. Just this morning, she and James had argued basically over Quidditch. Then, when things got worse, he was there for her when she needed him. But now, she couldn't do anything for him.

Madam Pomfrey informed Lily, her friends, and the other Marauders that James's condition was critical. When his ribs had broken, they punctured his lungs, causing respiratory problems. He was also suffering from internal bleeding. And his body was so bruised; it could take months to heal completely. 

There was only so much that magic could do for him. Madam Pomfrey had found potions to stop the bleeding and partially heal his lungs. But, she had also informed them that the potions wouldn't take away the pain. She used her wand to fix his many broken ribs and also wrapped the entirety of his chest and stomach. She had put a spell on him that would make him sleep for a few hours. Then she left Lily and the others alone with him. 

Lily pulled a chair up to his bedside and covered his hand with hers. She gazed contently into his pale, but handsome face. Sirius, Remus, Carly, and Isabella were all sitting on a neighboring hospital bed. They hadn't moved for 2 hours. 

Carly cleared her voice. "Lily, maybe we should go get ready for the Ball….it starts in a few hours," 

"Yeah, Lily. James wouldn't want you to sit around here when you could be having a good time," Remus added.

Lily couldn't believe what she was hearing. These people were supposed to be his friends and it was like they couldn't care less about the fact that he had almost died out there. 

"We can't just leave him here alone, while everyone else is at the Ball carrying on without him!"

"But we do care about James!" 

"Lily, don't you see? James would never want anyone sitting around waiting for him to wake up when they could be having fun at the Ball. Especially you, Lily," Sirius said. 

Isabella started in, "Come 'on, Lily. He would want you to go have a good time. Even without him."

"OK….let me just stay here with him for a little while longer," Lily said quietly.

"Sure. Just come to the Common Room when you leave. Remember, we're getting ready together."

"Yeah, sure. See you in a little bit, then." Lily said distractedly. 

They left. But out in the hallway, Carly and Sirius were talking. 

"Are you sure we should leave her alone?" She asked him worriedly.

"She'll be fine. I think she's starting to realize just how much she really cares about him anyway. Nothing wakes you up to the truth like almost loosing the person you love. Sounds sappy, I know, but it's the truth." He stately, matter-of-factly.

For the first time all day, Carly smiled. "Sirius, you always know what to say," Then, he put his arms around her waist and gently pulled her to him. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and they shared a few moments of affection. The kind of affection that's only shared when you really care about something. It wasn't about kissing. It was just about being close to someone. 

When they finally broke apart, Carly asked him, "Are you coming back to the common room?"

He smiled secretly. "Nah. I've got something to take care of. I'll see you before the Ball. Can't wait, babe." He winked at her then headed off in the direction of the Great Hall. 

Carly beamed. She loved it when he called her 'babe'. She started back to the Gryffindor common room. 

Meanwhile, back in the hospital ward.

Lily abandoned her chair and was now sitting on the bed beside James. She took his cool hand in both of hers and held it in her lap. She was still gazing into his face, but now silent tears were trekking down her face. She made no movement to wipe them away. She didn't want to. She just wanted to feel something, since she had felt cold and numb ever since her screaming spell hours ago. 

James didn't deserve this. If anything, she did. She was always causing him problems. He was probably thinking about what had happened this morning. She thought. So, this really was her fault. If was she wasn't so stupid, this never would have happened to him. 

All he ever did was love her and try to get him to love her back. And she just threw back in his face. Why hadn't she told him how she really felt when she had the chance? They could have gone to the Ball together, celebrating the Gryffindor victory over Hufflepuff. Now, he could die. It was unlikely now, but still. He could have DIED. She never would've had the chance to touch him….or hug him…kiss him. He probably hated her now, anyway. She needed him now. She needed to tell him how she felt. 

"James," she started quietly. "I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. I don't know if you know this…..but……I really do love you. And I'm so sorry." The tears were flowing down her cheeks like a waterfall. Without thinking, she bent down over him and kissed him, softly. 

James was dreaming. He was flying around the Britain Quidditch pitch on the latest broomstick. He was wearing the team robes. There were hundreds of Golden Snitches flying around him and he was catching as many as he could. He was laughing. He hadn't had so much fun in his life. Until, he heard the tweet of a whistle. The British commentator was saying. "And Potter wins the Cup! Come down and get your prize!"

When his feet hit the ground, something pulled him up into the air. The pitch and the Snitches were away from him now, he was so high up. Then-

His eyes opened. Where am I? He thought. And why was Lily kissing him? Not that he minded. He started to kiss her back. Lily sprang back, alarmed. 

"What's wrong, Lily?" he rasped. He coughed. "What's wrong with my voice?"

"Madam Pomfrey! He's awake!" she called out. "How do you feel?"

"I feel fine. When am I getting out of here? What time is it? The Ball is probably starting soon."

Madam Pomfrey came in and checked his vitals. "You seem ok. Still some pain I suppose?"

James hadn't noticed it until now. Suddenly, it hit like a ton of bricks. It was practically unbearable. He winced.

"Nope. No pain at all!" he stood up. But he collapsed back down onto his bed, breathing hard. "Ok. Some pain." 

"Where does it hurt?"

"My chest mostly." He said honestly.

"I'm afraid you're not going anywhere tonight, Potter. You'll have to stay here until the pain is completely gone."

"But what about the Ball?!"

"No Balls." She said sternly.

"Christmas Balls or regular balls?" he said with a smirk. Even in pain, his sarcastic side couldn't resist. 

Madam Pomfrey glared at him. Lily coughed what sounded like a laugh.

"Don't get smart with me, Potter. I don't think I've ever had a patient with such a serious condition as yours, wake up and start smarting me off. Take this- she handed him a small bottle- it'll make the pain temporarily subside." Then she went back to her office.

James took whatever was in the bottle. It tasted like smoke. Then he turned his attention back to Lily. 

"So, Lily. What exactly were you kissing me for?"

She simply looked back at him. She wasn't going to hide it anymore. It was too hard. Her feelings were to strong to hold back. She sat back down on the bed at his side. 

"James, you have no idea how awful I felt today. When you yelled at me, I wanted to curl up and die. I felt so bad. I should have respected the fact that you were under pressure. Then, after the whole Mudblood thing-she shuddered- you were there for me in an instant. No questions asked. I had no right to yell at you like I did."

He looked at her bewildered. "But Lily, I shouldn't have yelled at you. It's my fault."

She shook her head. "No. I was bothering you. I deserved it."

"Lily, what happened to you today?"

"I guess the stress of that word finally got to me. I've been hearing it for seven years, you know."

"I wish there was some way I could make everyone forget that word. Just because your parents are Muggles doesn't make you any less of the witch you are. And you're great. The greatest witch in the year. It only adds to your charm." He smiled.

She smiled back at him. "James, I have to tell you something. I know things haven't always been great between us. It's taken me seven years to see the real you. I really care about you." She said. Her cheeks only showed the faintest twinge of pink this time. 

"Lily, you know I care about you. I've always cared about you. I have feelings for you. And I always will." He said.

"I'll always care about you, too." 

They just looked at each other then, neither embarrassed. The smiles on their faces pretty much said it all. But it was James who finally broke the connection. 

"Don't you have a Ball to get to?"

She looked confused. "But don't you want me to stay here with you?"

He chuckled. "Are you crazy? It's the Christmas Ball! Go be with your friends, have a good time! It is possible to have a good time without me, you know." He said innocently. 

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure! Go! It starts in an hour!" he tried to smile. In reality, he really wanted to say "No! stay with me!". But he knew she really wanted to go. He could see it.

"Ok…if you're sure." She said slowly. She bent down over him again and kissed him lightly on the lips. But just as she was pulling away, he pulled her to him and deepened the kiss. It was about thirty seconds or so before he released her. Lily didn't want him to. 

She sat back up.

He grinned at the look of surprise on her face. "Now get out of here." He waved her away. 

Lily stood up and backed away slowly, her eyes still locked on his. "I'll be back in the morning," she promised.

"Can't wait," he smiled at her. 

"Bye." She walked out the door and shut it behind her. Then, she collapsed against it. _Why couldn't you just say it?? YOU LOVE HIM! You've blown it yet again._ She smacked her hand to her forehead. _Sometimes I worry about you…. _Then she made her way up to Gryffindor Tower, where her friends were waiting with her emerald green dress robes.

__

James would want me to have a good time. She reassured herself. 

Back in the hospital wing, James was planning his escape. He had to get to that Ball and at least see Lily. He concocted a plan to leave the wing, telling Madam Pomfrey that he wanted to get his schoolbooks and do homework. Fortunately, she bought it. Of course, he wasn't getting his books. He was going to change into his dress robes and then head to the Ball. But when he got to the Head Tower, he found that having almost all completely bruised ribs made it very difficult to change clothes. It took him a good two hours to get completely ready. He had never been so tired in his life. Slowly, he started to the Great Hall. 

Lily was sitting at one of the fifteen round tables making a circle around the floor of the Great Hall. She was alone, for Carly was dancing with Sirius and Isabella was dancing with Remus. The four of them looked great together, out on the dance floor. Lily had been approached by three guys so far, hoping to dance with the Head Girl of Hogwarts. She only wanted to dance with one person, though. Unfortunately, he was in the Hospital Wing, sore from an accident that occurred only hours ago. So, she sat alone. 

The music number that had been playing ended and her friends rushed over to the table, breathless.

"Are you sure you don't want to dance with Sirius, Lily?" Carly took a swig from her butterbeer bottle. 

"Carly, I'm not a charity case, thanks." Her tone icy.

"Lily, don't be upset just because James isn't here. Remember? He wants you to have a good time." Isabella reminded her. Her cheeks were pink from dancing and her eyes were shining. 

You're right. I'm sorry, girls. I guess I can dance with Sirius so the night won't be a complete waste."

"That's the spirit!" Carly always got a little tipsy from butterbeer. "Now get out there and shake it!"

Lily slowly stood up and headed out to the dance floor where Sirius was waiting. Carly must have put him up to this, she thought.

"Care to dance, Miss Evans?" he asked her.

"Sure, Mr. Black. I'd love to." She said half-heartedly.

"Good grief, Lily. Don't get so excited," he lowered his voice. "People are staring!"

Lily laughed. "Let them stare!" she said, even though she knew he was joking. She grabbed his arms and swung him around. But suddenly the music slowed, and a beautiful peaceful melody replaced the fast one.

"Oh. I'll go get Carly. I'm sure she'll want the first slow dance," she started to head back to the table. But Sirius grabbed her arm.

"Oh no Miss Evans. Carly and I already decided that the first dance goes to you." He bowed to her. Then he put her arms on his shoulders and put his on her waist and began moving in time to the music.

It all happened so fast that Lily started to laugh. "Fine, we'll do this your way."

"Lily, I just want to tell you something, one friend to another."

"Ok…….what?"

"I think you're really good for James. He's never been able to keep a steady girlfriend. Which we know is because he's completely infatuated with you. So I know you'll be good for him."

Lily was surprisingly touched by this vote of confidence from Sirius. He was always joking around and rarely said anything serious. 

"Thanks, Sirius. You know, things have changed between James and me. I care about him deeply. More than you know."

He looked at her knowingly. "Lily, I think we ALL know," he put emphasis on the word. "We know you have a thing for him. It's been there all along."

"You knew?"

"It was kind of hard not to notice."

She smiled sheepishly. "OK I admit it."

He smiled back at her. "We knew it."

"Sirius, you really have been a good friend through all of this. Thanks." 

She gave him a light, friendly hug. He hugged back.

"No problem."

James finally made it to the Great Hall. "OK that took what? Another hour?" He muttered to himself. He pulled the big doors of the hall open and scanned the room for Lily, until he found her. She was dancing with Sirius. James thought she was truly the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Her robes of emerald green matched her brilliant eyes and her auburn hair gave off the aura of an angel. And James thought she truly looked like one. He couldn't think of words to describe how he felt. He started over to her.

Her back was to him and Sirius saw him first, his eyes wide. 

"Uh, Lily? How would you feel if you saw James here right this moment?"

"Well, first of all I'd be shocked and surprised."

"Prepare to be shocked and surprised." He turned her around.

"James! What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in the hospital wing in bed? Her surprise turned to slight anger. He could be hurting inside.

"Lily, don't be mad at me. I had to see you!"

"You're putting yourself at risk, James! What if you get hurt again?"

"You can't live life being scared, Lily. How can you have fun if you do what the doctor tells you? I wanted to see you, so I came. And……I'm seeing you." He laughed.

She smiled. She couldn't resist.

"Sirius, do you care if I finish this song with Lily?" James asked him. He had been patiently waiting for his cue to exit and return to Carly. 

"Not at all," He said gallantly. "Have at it." He headed back to the table where Carly was silently watching the scene. 

James moved closer to Lily and took her in his arms. She put her arms around his shoulders and rested her head on his chest. He sighed. He loved everything about her at this moment. 

Lily pulled away. "James, there's something I have to tell you…..I love you. I love you so much that I hurt inside when I saw you fall. I wanted to be the one falling. But then again, I have been falling. Falling in love with you. I know people say you don't know what love is when you're a teenager. But I don't care. This is the real thing. I love you and I want to be with you. I don't care what people say. I love you." Now that she had finally said it, she liked hearing it. 

James didn't look shocked or surprised by this sudden announcement. He had always known this deep down. He had just been waiting to hear it from her, personally. 

He took a deep breath. "Lily, you know I love you. I've always loved you. Ever since the moment I saw you in first year. I couldn't take my eyes off of you!"

Lily laughed softly. "I know that. Now that we're here, at this point, what do you think will happen between us?"

"Lily, I can't say that I know for certain that things will work out perfectly for us and we'll be together forever. No one can say that. But I CAN say this. Right now, you're the only one I want to be with."

"I don't believe in all that 'we'll be together forever' rubbish because nobody knows for certain what might happen in the future. Let's just worry about what happening for us, right now."

He pulled her closer. "Lily, will you say it again? I like hearing you say it."

She laughed. "James Potter, I love you!" 

Instead of replying with an answer, he tilted her chin up towards him and bent down slightly. He kissed her. It was the sweetest kiss they could have ever imagined. Lily never wanted it to end. Right now, James couldn't feel any of the pain that was circulating though his body. All he could feel was her body against his and the feel of her lips against his. Everyone and everything else was forgotten. Neither cared that they were being stared at. 

Isabella sighed. "Isn't that the most romantic thing you've ever seen?" she asked the group.

"I don't know. Tell me if this is." Sirius stood up swiftly and went over to the stage the band was playing on and grabbed the mic. 

"Carly Peterson!" He boomed into it. Couples all over jumped and turned their attention to him. Lily and James were knocked out of their embrace. "What the hell…" James muttered. "What now?"

"Carly Peterson!" he said again.

Carly stood up. "Yeah?" She said. 

"Not very romantic," Isabella muttered into Remus's ear.

"Give him a moment," he said back.

"Carly," Sirius started. "These past months have made me realize one thing. That I can't live without you. I love you more than life itself!" He declared dramatically.

Carly covered her mouth with her hands. No one had ever told her they loved her before. She had always thought Sirius would eventually get tired of her and move on to someone else who would be willing to put out for him. Apparently , that wasn't true. 

Sirius continued, "When we finally get out of this place, will you live with me? We can start a life together!"

Carly's eyes widened in pure glee. Nothing would make her life more interesting that living in sin!

"Yes, Sirius! I love you too! And I'd love to move in with you after school!" she cried equally dramatically.

They ran to each other and started hugging and making out.

Isabella turned to Remus. "OK…….that was a little extreme. It was romantic, though."

Remus shook his head. "It was more like WAY extreme…don't you think?"

Isabella rolled her eyes. "Come on Remus. Live a little." With that she pulled him to her and kissed him.

Lily couldn't believe it. Somehow Carly could always steal her thunder. Not that she really cared. She had got what she had been waiting her whole life to find. Someone who loved her. Nothing could make her any happier at that moment. 

James couldn't believe it. Sirius would always been the king of romance. He was a pure genius. Not that he really cared. He knew that one day Lily would finally return his feelings for her. He just didn't think it would be in this natural life. He couldn't believe he was so lucky. 

They turned back to each other. The band started up another slow song and every couple in the Great Hall joined them on the floor and danced. Isabella with Remus, Carly with Sirius, and of course, Lily with James. Nothing could be more perfect.

Later that night, when the ball was over, Lily and James expressed their love for each other. It was meant to be. Forever. 

Epilogue:

When Sirius and Carly left Hogwarts, they indeed moved in together. Unfortunately, after seven months, they broke up and Carly moved back in with her parents. Carly Peterson soon later became one of the Chasers on the Britain team, where she excelled as their all-time high scorer. After the break-up, Sirius moved in with James and his family. 

Remus and Isabella exchanged letters for more than a year before surprisingly, Remus became interested in someone else, and broke things off with Isabella. Isabella now runs her own bookshop in Diagon Alley. 

Lily and James didn't move in together after school but did continue their blossoming relationship. They pursued the same career (Auror) and after dating for 3 years, married and had a son who they named Harry James.

The rest is history.

~*~

well…..i didn't really expect this to be the end. But I realized that it would be best for me. I was running out of places to go with this. I don't feel that I really did my best with this story. But unfortunately, people change and move on……Harry Potter just isn't as important to me as it was when I started this…not that I don't still like it. I fully intend to keep reading the books and seeing the movies. 

I hope many of you enjoyed this story and thank you for waiting while I took my time finishing it. What would a writer be without ppl who actually read their work? Just another face in the crowd mostly…….

To people who want to be writers…don't write about something that you wouldn't want to rea yourself. That's wat I tried to do. Write something that I myself would want to read bc I was tired of reading stories that disappointed me. So I wrote one of my own. 

Thanks for reading.

Feel free to send me all the flames ya want for this one. 

I'm out


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